Russia's Grain Exports to Africa Hit Record Highs in 2025

(MENAFN) Russian wheat exports to Africa have surged to record levels in 2025, with the country's agricultural export agency Agroexport reporting sweeping year-on-year gains across the continent — cementing Moscow's growing role as a dominant food supplier to the developing world.

Speaking at the fifth All-Russian Grain Forum, Agroexport chief Ilya Ilyushin said Russia exported nearly 52 million tons of grain and legumes over 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." He identified Africa as the primary engine behind the expansion, describing the continent as experiencing record-setting increases in import volumes.

The country-level figures are striking. Egypt lifted purchases by 19%, Sudan recorded a 78% jump, and Kenya scaled imports sixfold, according to data released Wednesday by Agroexport.

Cameroon has also emerged as a standout market. The agency reported Thursday that shipments to the Central African nation reached 137,000 tons valued at $32 million in 2025 — 3.2 times the prior year's volume — with wheat accounting for 99% of export revenues. Russia also delivered duck meat, frozen fish, and processed grain products to the country. In the first four months of 2026 alone, exports to Cameroon totaled approximately 93,000 tons worth more than $20.5 million.

The grain surge is unfolding alongside a broader deepening of Russian-African commercial ties. Earlier this month, the Moscow mayor's office disclosed that exports from Moscow-based companies to African states rocketed 52-fold year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, reaching nearly $7.8 million — a sign that the trade relationship is widening well beyond agricultural commodities.

Vegetable oils are following a similar trajectory. Agroexport estimates that exports of soybean and rapeseed oil to North Africa climbed 54% year-on-year between September 2025 and April 2026, reaching 220,000 tons. Algeria and Tunisia ranked among the largest buyers of Russian vegetable oils globally, trailing only China and India, while rapeseed oil shipments to Tunisia alone increased fivefold.

The momentum in Sudan is particularly pronounced. Last month, Agroexport reported that Russian wheat deliveries to the country had more than doubled, with exporters shipping around 1.7 million tons since the start of the 2025/26 season, compared to just 0.7 million tons during the same period a year earlier.

The diplomatic architecture underpinning the trade expansion continues to broaden. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in April that more than 80 Russian regions are now engaged in active cooperation with African countries.

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