African leaders used the plenary session of the third Russia-Africa Summit to press a case centred on what citizens across the continent stand to gain: jobs, modernised agriculture, reliable energy, and technology that stays in local hands rather than leaving with exported raw materials.
The session, held at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow and chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin together with the President of Burundi and Chairperson of the African Union, Evariste Ndayishimiye, brought together representatives from around 50 African states, including heads of state and government and leaders of regional organisations. The proposals placed before it were framed in terms of everyday livelihoods: joint production ventures, investment in industry, energy and transport projects, and cooperation in artificial intelligence.
Ndayishimiye, speaking for the continent’s nations, was explicit about the stakes for ordinary Africans. “Africa will not be content with exporting raw materials and importing finished products. We must develop our own industrial potential, modernise our agriculture, strengthen our energy infrastructure and logistics routes, and invest more in research and technological development,” he said. He called on Russian enterprises to invest more actively in African industry and to transfer technology and expertise to local companies, and he proposed focusing future cooperation on industrial investment, infrastructure projects, education and technology transfer. Crucially for accountability, he stressed that the new action plan must include specific projects, sources of funding and mechanisms for evaluating results.
Putin responded by expressing readiness to expand economic and technological cooperation with African states. He described Russian companies as already active in the energy sector, the mining industry, manufacturing and logistics, engaging local contractors and transferring technology. “Russian businesses consistently demonstrate integrity, respect and good faith in their cooperation with African partners. They work on an equal footing with their partners […] they invest and reinvest their earnings in the development of your national economies. They share advanced technologies and expertise, make extensive use of local subcontractors, establish new production facilities and create jobs,” Putin emphasised, according to the Kremlin’s website.
The figures he offered point to the scale of the relationship. Russia’s trade turnover with African states last year exceeded US$27 billion, an increase of one and a half times compared with the previous summit. The rouble now accounts for 85 per cent of Russian-African commercial transactions.
Other leaders tied the partnership directly to public services and daily needs. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that his country is working jointly with Russia to build its first nuclear power station, and expressed interest in nuclear technologies for the treatment of cancer as well as cooperation in artificial intelligence. He invited Russian universities to collaborate with Ethiopian scientific and educational organisations in that field, proposed that Russian companies expand manufacturing operations in Ethiopia’s special economic zones, and called for simplifying mutual payments by reducing the cost of financial transactions, a measure that affects traders and ordinary consumers alike.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi set out priorities with a similarly civic dimension: strategic transport corridors and logistics zones, an increase in intra-regional trade within Africa, and the development of links between electricity grids. He also cited support for agriculture and the alleviation of the debt burden on African states. El-Sisi emphasised that the current summit should ensure a transition from assessing results achieved to the practical implementation of new initiatives, and that the Russian-African partnership must take into account the priorities of the continent’s nations and be mutually beneficial.
What follows the summit will determine whether the rhetoric translates into services people can use. According to the plans outlined, a final declaration is to be adopted, along with the Partnership Forum Action Plan for 2027-2029 and a separate declaration on cooperation in civilian applications of artificial intelligence. The signing of intergovernmental and inter-agency agreements is also expected.
For readers seeking the original coverage of these proceedings, the report was published at https://tvbrics.com/en/news/african-leaders-call-for-establishment-of-joint-production-facilities-and-technological-development/
The measure of success, as the leaders themselves framed it, will be whether the action plan delivers concrete projects with identifiable funding and results that can be evaluated, and whether the promised jobs, energy capacity and technology transfer reach the communities they are intended to serve.