Russian grain exports to Africa surge – data
Russian wheat exports to African countries have risen sharply this year, the Russian agriculture export agency Agroexport has said.
Egypt increased purchases by 19%, while exports to Sudan jumped by 78%, and supplies to Kenya rose sixfold, according to the data published on Wednesday.
Speaking at the fifth All-Russian Grain Forum, the head of the agency, Ilya Ilyushin, said Russia exported nearly 52 million tons of grain and legumes in the 2025 calendar year, alongside more than 3 million tons of oilseeds, adding that wheat supplies “increased by 30% compared to the same period last year, to 14 million tons.” Africa has become the primary driver of this growth, experiencing record-setting increases in import volumes.
On Thursday, the agency reported shipments to Cameroon had reached 137,000 tons worth $32 million in 2025, up 3.2 times year-on-year, with wheat accounting for 99% of export revenues. Russia also supplied duck meat, frozen fish, and processed grain products. In the first four months of 2026 alone, exports to Cameroon totaled around 93,000 tons worth more than $20.5 million.
The broader expansion of Russian grain exports comes as ties between the city and region of Moscow and African nations are also developing. Earlier this month, the Moscow mayor’s office reported that exports from Moscow-based companies to African states jumped 52-fold year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, reaching nearly $7.8 million.
Demand for Russian soybean and rapeseed oil has also been rising sharply across North Africa. According to Agroexport estimates, exports of the two products to the region jumped 54% year-on-year between September 2025 and April 2026, reaching 220,000 tons. Algeria and Tunisia emerged among the largest buyers of Russian vegetable oils, behind only China and India, while shipments of rapeseed oil to Tunisia increased fivefold.
Last month, Agroexport said that Russian wheat shipments to Sudan had more than doubled. Exporters delivered around 1.7 million tons since the start of the 2025/26 season, compared to 0.7 million tons during the same period a year earlier.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in April that more than 80 Russian regions are now engaged in cooperation with African countries.
