President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Chairperson of the African Union, President of the Republic of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye gave a joint press conference following the 3rd Russia–Africa Summit.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: President Ndayishimiye, ladies and gentlemen,
The 3rd Russia–Africa Summit has just concluded, and on behalf of its participants, President of the Republic of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye – representing the nation that currently chairs the African Union – and I would like to present our assessments of the joint work undertaken and the decisions adopted today.
I would like to emphasise that this is already the 3rd Russia–Africa Summit. Holding such large-scale events has become a good tradition and clearly demonstrates the firm determination of both Russia and African states to further strengthen and develop multifaceted ties in the spirit of genuine partnership and mutual respect for the sake of universal growth and prosperity.
It is deeply gratifying that twenty-one African leaders, high-level delegations from the overwhelming majority of the continent’s states, and the heads of virtually all leading African integration bodies took part in the Moscow summit.
The motto of the current Summit is “For Peace, Security and Development”. In essence, this motto has determined the course and themes of our discussions. We discussed a wide range of issues concerning Russian-African relations, both on the international stage and directly within the framework of cooperation between Russia and Africa in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres.
Each participant in the summit had the opportunity to take the floor, express their views, share ideas and put forward initiatives in the context of Russian-African cooperation and the resolution of topical regional and international issues. There were indeed many interesting assessments and constructive proposals, and as a result of such a broad discussion, a comprehensive picture has emerged, encompassing the full spectrum of opinions. This fully reflects the views of leaders representing all the diversity of the African continent and its regions and subregions, home to an immensely diverse array of ethnic groups, peoples and world religions and confessions.
Our productive joint work culminated in the Moscow Declaration, which was approved at the summit. This comprehensive, long-term document reaffirms the commitment of all our countries to building a just and democratic multipolar world order based on the universally recognised principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
Our common interest in further developing equitable relations is also clearly reflected – relations built on honesty, partnership and mutual benefit. This relationship draws on the rich experience of cooperation accumulated, among other things, during the African peoples’ struggle against colonial oppression and the subsequent establishment of young African states, a process to which our country actively contributed. All the participants in the summit were united in the view that preserving these time-tested traditions of friendship is the best guarantee of a successful future for Russian-African relations.
I would also like to note that an extensive list of specific tasks for developing Russia’s ties with African states in the economic, commercial, social and humanitarian spheres, and for implementing the decisions of this summit, is set out in the joint action plan for the period up to 2029, which was adopted today. Prominent among these objectives are the qualitative and quantitative expansion of mutual trade and the improvement of its structure.
We are convinced that the current level of Russian-African trade – standing at $27 billion – is, of course, far from its limit. In many ways, we are only at the very beginning of this journey. As for our investments, they already amount to tens of billions of dollars. We will undoubtedly increase our trade turnover, there’s no doubt about it.
The discussions demonstrated that our countries are determined to continue working together to increase mutual trade, remove remaining trade barriers and expand supplies of Russian industrial goods, machinery, equipment, fertiliser and agricultural products to Africa – all of which enjoy a strong reputation on the continent.
Naturally, Russia remains fully open to expanding its purchases of a wide range of goods produced in Africa. The numerous negotiations held on the sidelines of the summit among ministries, agencies and the business community clearly demonstrate this strong interest.
Closer alignment between the integration processes that are underway in Africa and those on the Eurasian continent, in which Russia participates, could further enhance reciprocal trade. This issue was discussed in practical terms yesterday during a separate, highly substantive meeting with the heads of pan-African organisations. The leaders of two major Eurasian entities – the EAEU and the CIS – were also invited to take part.
Our Eurasian organisations are ready to work together with their pan-African counterparts. Our African partners have expressed support for the need to further improve mechanisms for financing reciprocal trade. Already, 85 percent of financial settlements for commercial transactions are carried out in national currencies, including the Russian ruble. This enables us to effectively shield our mutual trade and investment from global market fluctuations and instability in the international political landscape.
The discussion held at the summit reaffirmed that many African leaders regard agriculture as a key area for cooperation with Russia. They look to our country to continue taking every effort to strengthen food security across the African continent and supply their consumer markets with essential food products. We are, of course, ready and willing to do so. Russia will continue to act as a responsible supplier of grain to Africa, providing it, as in the past, both under commercial contracts and on a gratuitous basis.
African leaders have also expressed interest in attracting Russian businesses to their countries to help boost agricultural production. We are, of course, ready to share our expertise in the agricultural sector with our African partners and help them adopt the most innovative, cutting-edge technologies in livestock farming, crop production, and the processing and storage of agricultural products.
Cooperation in the energy sector was also discussed in detail. Many participants highlighted Russia’s significant contribution over the decades to the development of national energy systems across African countries. Russia has consistently sought to meet the growing demand for hydrocarbon fuels in African economies, while also addressing other needs, which I will touch upon next.
With the involvement of our companies, large-scale projects are being implemented in the power sector. This applies not only to traditional power generation but also to nuclear power. Rosatom, for example – as is well known – is building a nuclear power plant in Egypt and implementing a whole range of peaceful nuclear energy programmes with other African partners. We see considerable interest both in large power plants and small-capacity nuclear reactors, as well as in the use of nuclear technologies in medicine and agriculture. We are fully ready for these joint initiatives.
It is worth emphasising that over the past few days, representatives of African countries and their Russian colleagues have signed a large number of bilateral interdepartmental and commercial documents aimed at deepening industrial cooperation, implementing projects in the information and communications sector, and introducing innovative Russian digital solutions, including those based on artificial intelligence, across a wide variety of sectors of African economies and in public administration.
I would like to highlight in particular the complete mutual understanding among summit participants regarding the need to maintain cultural, scientific, educational, sporting, tourism, youth and other humanitarian exchanges at a high level, as well as partnership through the media and mass communications.
In all these areas of interaction with our African partners and friends, specific requests were made for further Russian assistance in training qualified personnel and the workforce, improving sanitary and epidemiological well-being, and environmental conservation. The Russian side will, of course, meet these needs. We will continue to increase the number of African students studying in Russia, including on state scholarships. I would like to say that this work is also needed here in Russia and is highly beneficial to us. Why? Because people who have worked and studied here, who have gained knowledge and acquired skills, then use them in their own countries and, naturally, look to their partners in the Russian Federation. These are, so to speak, the people we can rely on in those countries.
Just now, at the conclusion of our discussions, a representative of one of the countries took the floor and began his address in Russian – in excellent, literary Russian. And that, of course, is a very solid foundation.
By the way, a record number of African citizens – almost 40,000 – are already studying at Russian universities today. For the 2026–2027 academic year, the scholarship quota has been increased by a further 5,500 places.
Our African partners have also supported the idea of expanding the network of branches of Russian universities in their countries and creating new educational centres to help promote the Russian language, science and culture. Several colleagues spoke of opening Russian cultural centres.
I would like to emphasise that we have also taken on board everything our African friends said about the importance of expanding cooperation with Russia in areas such as healthcare and the fight against epidemics. We will increase the supply of effective medicines, transfer mobile laboratories and conduct joint exercises to respond to outbreaks of infection. I mentioned, in particular, the decision to extend the Russian programme of assistance to African countries in countering infections until 2029.
As usual, international political issues were discussed in detail at the summit. To reiterate, our countries are natural partners in the efforts to create a new, fairer and multipolar world. We maintain close foreign policy coordination and engage actively through bilateral and multilateral channels at the UN and other international organisations.
It has become clear that the views of Russia and Africa on most of the pressing issues on the global and regional agenda are not only very close but often coincide. Together we do everything we can to strengthen the role of African states in global affairs, and we advocate fairer representation of Africans in the global decision-making system, including the UN Security Council and the international financial institutions.
I agree with my colleagues that the world has changed dramatically and that international organisations, of course, need reform. Naturally, this should be carefully considered, balanced and coordinated, and the main decisions should be adopted by broad consensus. But our African friends are absolutely right to raise this issue, and the timing is right, too.
And, of course, it was highly valuable for all of us to hear African leaders’ views on the pressing issues facing their respective regions: the Sahara-Sahel, North Africa and the Maghreb, the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region, as well as Central and Southern Africa. The challenges confronting these regions and subregions are unique and specific, yet many of the threats they face are common to different parts of the continent and call for collective solutions.
In addition to the summit’s plenary sessions and the Economic and Humanitarian Forum, we held a number of productive bilateral meetings. These engagements will continue tonight and tomorrow, with discussions scheduled to take place with the majority of the African leaders attending our summit.
I would like to reiterate that Russia is sincerely committed to building a truly strategic and multifaceted partnership with Africa. We are encouraged to see that our African friends are equally committed to working together, hand in hand. Overall, we share the view that the third Russia–Africa Summit was a success and will undoubtedly give a powerful boost to the further development of Russia–Africa cooperation.
The decisions reached today will be implemented systematically, including through permanent mechanisms for promoting cooperation between Russia and Africa. These include the Partnership Forum, which brings together sectoral agencies, as well as businesses, civil society and expert communities from all our countries. The Forum’s work is coordinated through regular meetings of foreign ministers.
It is also important to note that all the leaders expressed unanimous support for continuing the practice of holding regular Russia–Africa summits. The venue and date of the next summit will be agreed upon in due course.
In conclusion, I would like to thank our African colleagues once again for their active and productive engagement here in Moscow over the past few days, and to wish all summit participants every success and all the very best. I am confident that our African friends will achieve their goals through their own determination, industriousness, and cultural traditions and values, as well as through the hard work and aspirations of their peoples to improve their living standards and secure a more equitable place in the global order. Russia, for its part, will do everything within its power to support these efforts, drawing on our longstanding traditional ties.
Thank you for your attention.
Chairperson of the African Union, President of the Republic of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye (retranslated): Dear friend, President of Russia Vladimir Putin,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Representatives of the media,
At the close of this summit, I would like to thank God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, and to express once again my sincere gratitude to the President of the Russian Federation, his Government, and the Russian people, for the successful organisation of the 3rd Russia–Africa Summit, which was held in the beautiful historic city of Moscow from October 28 to 29, 2026.
I would like to express once again my deep gratitude for the warm reception and hospitality shown to all African delegations and, in particular, to the delegation of my country, Burundi.
I am truly pleased that our work in Moscow has been so productive. We have carried out invaluable work and discussed many challenges amid the numerous conflict situations around the world. The outcomes underscore the importance of constant dialogue between Africa and its friend and strategic partner, the Russian Federation.
I therefore welcome the fruitful exchange of views between our two sides – Africa and Russia – both in bilateral and multilateral formats. I also welcome the common vision of development that characterises our efforts, and our determination to enhance our cooperation and strengthen the historically friendly ties between Russia and the African continent – a partnership based on the shared values of peace, justice, solidarity, mutual respect, sovereignty and direct people-to-people contacts.
This summit took place in an international background marked by profound political and geopolitical transformations and challenges relating to access to strategic resources. We noted the determination of African countries to diversify their partnerships and strengthen their sovereignty. In this context, the Heads of State and Government are ready to strengthen cooperation with the Russian Federation, not only in terms of political relations but also in areas where Russia can help accelerate economic advancement, civilisational progress and regional integration, and help achieve the continent’s sustainable development.
Following the summit, I can say that we have successfully concluded a political declaration that will benefit future generations. The document is well structured: we have set out priorities, financial mechanisms, a calendar and timetable for implementing our agreements, defined areas of responsibility and noted the dates on which we expect to see results.
The results achieved at the summit are reflected in the conclusion of a joint Russia – Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan for the period up to 2029. This is the operational framework for cooperation between the two sides, which we will use over the next three years. More broadly, the third Russia–Africa Summit has given us an opportunity to change the quality of our cooperation and, on the basis of political solidarity, to strengthen economic cooperation, increase exports and accelerate work between the continent and Russia.
We must combat technological dependence and the appropriation of technology, develop innovation in Africa, strengthen initiatives on the African continent and integrate them successfully, and honour our common commitments through various programmes. This evolution of our actions is reflected in successes in many areas.
On the political front, we are working together to build a more just and democratic multilateral world order based on the UN Charter, the sovereign equality of states and non-interference in internal affairs. Africa has a common position on reforming the UN Security Council, as expressed in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.
We also affirm our will for Africa to be better represented in the international financial institutions. We likewise see partnership with the BRICS group as a promising area of our work in securing Africa’s more active participation in international integration.
On peace and security, we uphold the principle that any external partnership must strengthen the African Union and our economic community. We therefore support initiatives that will run until 2030 and advocate more predictable and more equitable financing for peace in Africa under the relevant UN Security Council resolution.
As for economic and humanitarian cooperation, we discussed numerous initiatives to promote trade and investment between Russia and Africa. We agreed that our cooperation needs to be diversified. We also agreed to strengthen ties in education, culture, healthcare, sport, youth affairs, and the media, including through partnerships between universities, research institutions and vocational schools, as well as student exchange programmes.
We have adopted a Declaration on Artificial Intelligence, in which we call for equitable cooperation, with the United Nations playing a central role. In the same spirit, we advocate the meaningful implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, as we look ahead to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), scheduled to take place in Ethiopia in 2027. We are also developing joint projects focused on reforestation and reducing harmful emissions.
The final declaration we have just adopted is not merely a list of resolutions and decisions. We will also implement a joint Action Plan, which will require considerable effort and work through our established joint mechanisms.
Africa’s young people are dynamic and demanding, and they expect tangible results from the implementation of these documents. They look forward to scholarships, more ambitious energy initiatives and more digital solutions.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to emphasise that we are now entering a new decisive phase, in which we must focus on creating greater added value. Russian investors should come to Africa and invest there, to help us. We must work together to build mutually beneficial cooperation. We therefore hope that this summit will deliver tangible results that will benefit the peoples on both sides.
Thank you.
To be continued.