‘Egypt tops trade partners for Moscow in Africa during 2023’

MOSCOW – The Russian Ministry of Economic Development said that Egypt ranked first among the top five African countries in terms of trade turnover with Russia for January-August 2023.

In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development said that Egypt was followed by Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, Russia Today reported.

The volume of trade turnover between Russia and African countries in the eight months of 2023 increased by 43.5% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to $15.5 billion, the Russian media outlet reported according to MENA, citing the Ministry of Economic Development’s data prepared for one of the events in the nation’s parliament.

In 2022, trade turnover between Russia and Africa amounted to $18 billion, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. Of this, Russian exports accounted for $14.8 billion. According to Putin, over 50% of Russian supplies to Africa are machinery and equipment, chemical products, and food.

According to the Bank of Russia, in July 2023, 12.7% of Russian exports to Africa were in rubles, and almost 79% in “other currencies,” which mainly includes the Chinese yuan. At the same time, the share of “other currencies” jumped from 39% in June 2023.

In 2022, Egypt’s supplies to Russia mainly consisted of fruits, the Egyptian statistical service reported. Egypt’s imports from Russia were dominated by grain and timber. Algeria and Libya are heavily dependent on Russian wheat imports, local media reported.