Nigeria has urged Russia to deepen investment and technology transfer across Africa, calling for a transition in bilateral relations from political commitments to concrete economic gains in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and digital development.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye, made the call while delivering Nigeria’s national statement at the Third Russia-Africa Summit held at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, urging Russian businesses to explore expanding opportunities in Nigeria and across the continent.
Enikanolaiye, who led the Nigerian delegation to the summit, said the partnership must deliver measurable results through expanded bilateral trade, industrialisation, direct technology transfer, and sustainable economic growth.
He conveyed President Bola Tinubu’s fraternal greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Chairperson of the African Union, President Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi.
The minister identified energy, solid minerals, agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, defence, and digital services as priority sectors offering substantial returns for Russian enterprises investing in Nigeria.
Describing Nigeria as Africa’s largest consumer market and a strategic gateway to West Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he urged Russian investors to leverage the country’s demographic and economic advantages.
Enikanolaiye noted that structural bottlenecks to trade and investment between Russia and African states must be resolved through improved correspondent banking relationships, streamlined settlement frameworks, and modern financial infrastructure to support cross-border commercial transactions.
He also affirmed Nigeria’s readiness to deepen local-currency settlement mechanisms with Russia through mutually agreed bilateral payment architectures.
On infrastructure, the minister solicited Russian participation in bankable, commercially viable projects spanning transport networks, railway systems, deep-sea ports, power generation, telecommunications, and logistics corridors.
He noted that such investments would accelerate regional connectivity, deepen market integration, and reinforce the objectives of the AfCFTA.
Turning to the digital economy, Enikanolaiye stressed that Africa must evolve beyond being a passive consumer of foreign technologies to building indigenous capacity to innovate, manufacture, and compete globally.
He proposed enhanced Russia-Africa cooperation in digital infrastructure development, cybersecurity frameworks, artificial intelligence, software engineering, and collaborative research, with priority given to technology transfer and human capital development.
The minister also called for scaled-up cooperation in agriculture and food security, observing that recent global supply shocks have exposed systemic vulnerabilities in regional food supply chains.
He listed domestic crop production, storage and cold-chain facilities, agro-processing, fertiliser manufacturing, irrigation systems, mechanisation, and agricultural research as strategic targets for capital injection.
Welcoming Russian technical collaboration in agricultural machinery, fertiliser blending, and agro-allied processing, Enikanolaiye noted that such partnerships would enable African nations to ramp up productivity, process raw commodities domestically, and retain higher economic value.
On peace and security, the minister observed that terrorism, violent extremism, transnational organised crime, illicit arms trafficking, maritime piracy, cyber threats, and instability across the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea pose severe risks to Africa’s development.
He called for coordinated multilateral cooperation to tackle these challenges, emphasizing that external partnerships must respect African ownership and support African-led security architectures.
According to him, external support should focus on reinforcing the operational capacities of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and other regional economic blocs in responding to emerging threats.
The minister reaffirmed Nigeria’s unwavering foreign policy commitment to sovereign equality, territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, and the peaceful resolution of international disputes through diplomacy and international law.
He reiterated Nigeria’s demand for the comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council and global financial institutions to ensure equitable African representation in international decision-making bodies.
Enikanolaiye added that Nigeria supports the emergence of an inclusive, multipolar global order, while opposing unilateral economic sanctions and the politicisation of international trade rules.
On the summit’s implementation framework, he endorsed the adoption of an actionable Africa-Russia Action Plan for 2027–2029, featuring clear deliverables, financing mechanisms, and monitoring frameworks.
He insisted that the success of the summit must be judged by the tangible economic and industrial dividends realized post-summit rather than the rhetoric of diplomatic communiqués.
The minister described Russia as a dependable, longstanding partner whose historical support for Nigeria’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity remains a cornerstone of bilateral relations established during the Soviet era.
In his address to the plenary session, President Putin described Russia and African nations as natural allies in the construction of an equitable multipolar world order, reaffirming Moscow’s commitment to sovereign equality, expanded diplomatic ties, defense cooperation, and enhanced African representation in global governance.
Similarly, AU Chairperson President Ndayishimiye affirmed that Africa will pursue sovereign, diversified foreign partnerships without trading one form of external dependency for another.
He noted that the 2027–2029 Action Plan will help bridge Africa’s infrastructure deficit through technology transfer and technical training, transitioning the continent from an aid recipient into a self-reliant global economic player.
The AU Chairperson also highlighted continental water security as a top priority under the African Union’s 2026 development agenda.
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