48 African nations head to Moscow summit: what's at stake

For African citizens watching their governments recalibrate foreign partnerships, few gatherings this week carry as much practical weight as the Russia-Africa summit opening in Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday. Delegations from 48 African countries are scheduled to take part, and 22 of them will be represented at head-of-state or government level, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. The decisions taken there touch on matters reaching well beyond diplomacy: security cooperation, economic agreements and educational exchanges that shape daily life across the continent.

The summit, the third since 2019, arrives at a delicate moment. Russia is under heavy Western sanctions over its offensive in Ukraine while simultaneously providing security assistance to several African governments. For the publics served by those governments, the direction of these ties matters directly, from how conflicts on their soil are fought to what economic agreements their leaders sign on their behalf.

Ushakov framed the gathering in sweeping terms. “We are natural allies in building a multipolar world order,” he said, describing a system in which political power is no longer concentrated in the West but spread across multiple regions. Moscow has courted African ties since the Soviet era and has long viewed the continent as a counterweight to what it sees as Western domination of international affairs.

President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric on what he calls “neocolonialism” has resonated with a number of African leaders, particularly in the Sahel, where several former French colonies have reoriented their partnerships. Among those Putin is scheduled to meet is Malian leader Assimi Goita, whose government is using Russian paramilitaries to battle a jihadist offensive. Mali’s ruling junta, which took power through two successive coups in 2020 and 2021, has turned away from former colonial ruler France and moved closer to Russia. The shift carries direct consequences for Malian citizens living through the conflict.

Beyond the bilateral meetings, the format makes room for a broader range of voices. Plenary sessions are planned in which, as Ushakov put it, “all heads of delegations will have the opportunity to speak.”

One of the most consequential regional questions hanging over the gathering is the tension between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, both of which are sending delegations. DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi will attend in person. Rwanda will be represented by Prime Minister Justin Nsengiyumva. The Rwandan-backed M23 movement has seized swathes of the eastern DRC since taking up arms again in 2021, and despite a US-brokered truce in December, fighting has continued to flare. For communities in the affected region, any diplomatic opening that could ease the conflict carries obvious stakes.

Meanwhile, the summit is expected to produce tangible outcomes. Thirty-three documents will be signed, some covering economic cooperation, according to the Kremlin. Russia, which welcomes thousands of African students to its universities every year, will additionally seek to strengthen its diplomatic footprint on the continent. It currently counts some 48 embassies in Africa, and there are plans to open a 49th in Liberia.

Taken together, the two days in Moscow underline how African governments are weighing partnerships their publics will experience in concrete ways: in security arrangements, in trade and cooperation documents, and in the movement of students between Russian and African institutions. Whether the summit delivers benefits that reach ordinary citizens, or remains largely a statement of geopolitical alignment, is the question that will follow the delegations home.