Recently Nigeria’s relationship with the Russian Federation has been growing stronger. Against the background of the market changes that have taken place in recent years, Russia has emerged as an interesting partner for Nigeria.
For Africa generally Russia has emerged as a partner that can contribute significantly to sovereignty, security and freedom of foreign affairs, without being hegemonic or paternalistic. The distinctive feature of Russia’s strategy in Africa is its commitment to inclusive dialogue and its support for pan-African integration and the African Union.
Thus, the main areas of interaction are the opening of economies to Russian investments and projects, military and security cooperation, as well as the revival of political, cultural and humanitarian relations.
The 2019 Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum, which was attended by representatives of all 54 countries of the continent, was a breakthrough. Quite interesting is the memorandum of understanding signed at the summit between the EEC (Eurasian Economic Commission) and the AUC (African Union Commission), in which the parties expressed their desire for greater interaction in trade, agriculture, infrastructure, investment and regional economic integration.
Russia is now one of the continent’s key food suppliers, supplying more than a third of Russia’s total grain exports and a substantial share of vegetable oils and fats exports. For example, for Nigeria, Russia is a key supplier of cereals.
Also, a Russian aluminium company, “Rusal”, one of the world’s largest producers of primary aluminium and alumina, has bauxite mining and primary aluminium projects in South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia and Guinea.
Nigeria and Russia have consistently developed privileged cooperation in energy and infrastructure projects. For example, Nigeria is collaborating with Moscow to design, build, operate and decommission nuclear power plants.
Nigeria is also interested in Russia’s experience in securing state sovereignty in the digital state. As many African states view Moscow as an effective partner in combating terrorism and supporting the stability of ruling regimes.
In this regard, cooperation with Russia could be one of the main vectors of Nigeria’s foreign policy direction, especially with an eye to the future.
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