Russia-Africa trade booming – customs

Russia’s trade with African countries continued to rise in 2023, according to the latest report by the Federal Customs Service (FCS) released this week.

Exports to Africa jumped to $19.8 billion in the first 11 months of last year, up from $12.9 billion for the same period of 2022, the report shows. Russian imports from the continent also increased, reaching $3.0 billion, up 7% from the previous year. This puts overall trade turnover at $22.8 billion, up nearly 50% in year-on-year terms. 

Moscow has been diversifying its economic cooperation in light of Western sanctions, boosting both imports and exports with Asia and Africa. Russian Economy Minister Maksim Reshetnikov predicted that trade with Africa would double by 2030.

Meanwhile, Ruslan Davydov, acting head of the FCS, told RBK in September that “it is quite obvious that the vacant place of unfriendly countries that do not want to work with us [Moscow] is being occupied by states that are ready to cooperate with us, including African countries.” 

Statistics showed that African countries have been increasingly using the currencies of countries that Russia deems ‘friendly’ in their trade with Moscow.