List of African leaders at Russia Africa Summit

Close to 50 African leaders were expected to be in Russia’s Black Sea city of Sochi for the first ever Russia – Africa forum, the Kremlin announced weeks back.

The forum expected to run between October 23 – 24 event is part of Moscow’s ambitious push for influence and business in Africa.

The Russians have by this move joined a field that includes the United States, China, Japan and to a large extent the United Kingdom and France.

Over a twenty African presidents, vice presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers and other government representatives are currently in Sochi at the start of the two-day forum. Amongst them are:

Alpha Conde, Guinea
Filipe Nyusi, Mozambique
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria
Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa
Peter Mutharika, Malawi
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Mali
Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Equatorial Guinea
Roch Marc Kabore, Burkina Faso
Yoweri Museveni, Uganda
Paul Kagame, Rwanda
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ghana
Julius Maada Bio, Sierra Leone
Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe
Andry Rajoelina, Madagascar
Adama Barrow, The Gambia
Mohamed Cheik El Ghouzani, Mauritania
Mohamed Abdulahi Farmaajo, Somalia
Idris Deby Itno, Chad
Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan
Abdelkader Bensaleh, Algeria
Denis Sassou Nguesso, Republic of Congo
Hage Geingob, Namibia
Fayez Serraj, Libya
Ismail Omar Guelleh, Djibouti
Joao Manuel Lourenco, Angola
Faustin Archange Touadera, Central African Republic
Felix Tshisekedi, Democratic Republic of Congo
Faure Gnassingbe, Togo
Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya
Jewel Howard Taylor, Liberia vice-president
Julien Nkoghe, Gabon Prime Minister
Kassim Majaliwa, Tanzania Prime Minister
Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia Prime Minister
Osman Saleh, Eritrea Foreign Affairs Minister

Aside the annual and extraordinary African Union summits which have pooled together dozens of presidents in one place, presidential inaugurations have also allowed leaders to meet every now and then.

In the area of overseas cooperation between Africa and other nations, the 2019 Tokyo International Conference on African Development, TICAD, was the most recent such gathering.

The Forum for China Africa Cooperation, FOCAC, in 2018, was also very well attended with records showing that only six presidents missed the Beijing meeting.

For Moscow, the prize is greater political influence on a continent with 54 United Nations member states, sprawling mineral wealth, and potentially lucrative markets for Russian-manufactured weapons.

The world’s largest wheat exporter, Russia is also looking to ramp up its supplies of grain and fertilizer to meet demand that is rising in step with Africa’s booming population.