Since the beginning of 2023, Russia's exports to African countries have increased in value terms by 91%
The share of African countries in the total volume of Russian supplies to foreign markets remained stable at the level of recent years and reached 12% against the backdrop of a significant increase in the volumes of agricultural exports themselves ($41.6 billion (+12% by 2021 and +36% by 2020). Egypt and Algeria (more than 60% of total supplies to African countries) became the leaders - consumers among African countries in the structure of Russian agricultural exports in value terms in 2022. At the end of 2022, the export of agricultural products from Russia to African countries continued to grow and reached $4.7 billion (+9% by 2021; +17% by 2020).
The top 5 African countries that consume Russian agro-industrial products in value terms include:
Egypt - 47.4% of the total volume of exports of Russian agricultural products to African countries (5,835.5 thousand tons or 2,221.4 million US dollars);
Algeria - 14.9% (1,513.0 thousand tons or 698.6 million US dollars);
Libya - 10.5% (1,549.2 thousand tons or 493.8 million US dollars);
Sudan - 9.0% (1,164.9 thousand tons or 419.4 million US dollars);
Kenya - 3.9% (556.1 thousand tons or 181.8 million US dollars).
Traditionally, the bulk of exports to African countries are grains and vegetable oils >80% and >10% in 2022, respectively. The main agricultural commodity items from Russia to the territory of African countries in value terms in 2022 were wheat (75.7%), soybean oil (9.7%), sunflower oil (6.7%), barley (3.3%) and frozen fish (1.0%).
Russian imports from African countries in the total volume of Russian imports of agricultural products and food amounted to 5.4% in 2022. The main commodity items in the structure of Russian imports from African countries in 2022 were fresh and dried oranges (14%), potatoes (10.6%), cocoa beans (7.4%), cocoa paste (7.3%) , tangerines (5.5%).
In January-May 2023, Russian imports from African countries increased by 19.7% compared to the same period in 2022 due to an increase in the supply of cocoa beans, cranberries, blueberries and other vaccinium berries (fresh), other citrus fruits, and cocoa paste.
The main suppliers among African countries in the structure of imports of Russian agribusiness products in value terms in 2022 were:
Egypt - 37.2% of the total volume of imports of Russian agricultural products from African countries (898.8 thousand tons or 688.9 million US dollars);
South Africa - 21% (305.2 thousand tons or 389.3 million US dollars);
Côte d'Ivoire - 11.5% (66.9 thousand tons or 212.9 million US dollars);
Morocco - 10.3% (175.1 thousand tons or 191.1 million US dollars);
Kenya - 6.6% (35.5 thousand tons or 122.8 million US dollars).
According to the results of the 1st half of 2023, Egypt and Algeria retain their leadership among African countries in terms of consumption of Russian products and are the only African countries in the top 10 importers of Russian agricultural products. The volume of shipments to Egypt is $1.5 billion, to Algeria - $0.44 billion, while the top 10 account for 68% of Russian agricultural exports for 6 months of 2023. The total volume of Russian exports of the agro-industrial complex for 6 months in 2023 reached 22.3 billion dollars (+18.6% compared to 6 months 2022). For the first half of 2023, supplies to Egypt and Algeria increased by 79.4% compared to the same period in 2022).
It is expected that against the background of the projected population growth in Africa, the demand for agricultural products will also increase several times over the next 3 years. The potential is preserved in meat, including turkey, fish and confectionery.