Russia's Foreign Economic Affairs: the African Destination

Abstract

The African destination is becoming increasingly important in foreign economic affairs. Africa’s inability to extract and use itself the natural resources justifies the relevance of the issue. The authors analyze Russia-Africa economic cooperation in various areas, and in particular study its historical and institutional foundations. These constitute Russia’s competitive advantage in the rivalry with the United States and China for influence across the continent. Energy, oil production, metallurgy and education are the key promising sectors in terms of developing Russia-Africa relations.