Russian President Medvedev's visit to Africa June 2009

This research paper analyzes Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's June 2009 visit to Africa and parallel summits in Yekaterinburg as part of a broader Russian strategy to challenge a unipolar world dominated by the United States and reassert influence in the developing world.

• Russia is pursuing a geopolitical strategy to move away from a unipolar world dominated by the United States toward a multipolar world. This objective is linked to a nationalistic view of history initiated by Vladimir Putin and is reflected in the rhetoric that "Russia is back…" across various global regions.
• President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Africa from 22-26 June 2009, which included Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia, and Angola, focused on the sale of Russian technology and the exploitation of minerals and energy. The goal was to balance the control of oil and gas currently held by Indian, Chinese, and Western companies.
• Russia sought to leverage its visits to Africa to increase its control over gas supplies to Europe. In Egypt, Russia aimed to involve the country as a producer in its supply plans, and in Nigeria, Gazprom signed an agreement with Nigerian National Petroleum to develop two gas fields and study the feasibility of a trans-Sahara pipeline to Algeria.
• Russia utilized state-controlled banks to provide loans for technology and infrastructure projects in Africa at a time when Western lenders were hesitant. This included loans for a satellite programme in Angola and the construction of a nuclear power station in Namibia.
• South Africa was notably excluded from President Medvedev's African itinerary and was not invited to the first BRIC summit and Shanghai Co-operation Organisation meetings in Yekaterinburg, despite being a leading economic power in Africa.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2009). Russian President Medvedev's visit to Africa June 2009. https://saiia.org.za/research/russian-president-medvedevs-visit-to-africa-june-2009/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Russian President Medvedev's visit to Africa June 2009. 2009. https://saiia.org.za/research/russian-president-medvedevs-visit-to-africa-june-2009/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Russian President Medvedev's visit to Africa June 2009 |date=8 July 2009 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/russian-president-medvedevs-visit-to-africa-june-2009/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2009russian, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Russian President Medvedev's visit to Africa June 2009}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2009}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/russian-president-medvedevs-visit-to-africa-june-2009/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }