Madar (Nouakchott) - The third Russia-Africa summit opened in Moscow on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, with the economic and humanitarian forum, whose plenary session at the Gostiny Dvor complex was attended by Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani alongside other heads of state and delegation leaders, the Mauritanian News Agency reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the plenary that Russia is "actively involved" in efforts to improve the financial health of African countries and ease their debt burden, adding that the successful operation of the African Continental Free Trade Area supports industrial cooperation and economic independence, according to Russia's TASS news agency.
Putin said the colonial legacy still shapes the continent's economies, whose infrastructure was historically built to export raw materials to the "metropolis", adding that "the situation is gradually changing". TASS cited expert data showing that intra-African trade accounts for only 15% of the continent's total turnover of $1.5 trillion.
Putin took his seat on the presidium with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current chairman of the African Union. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, 48 of Africa's 54 countries are taking part in the summit, 22 of them at the highest level.
President Ghazouani left for Moscow on Tuesday for the summit, on the sidelines of which Mauritania's state broadcaster TDM signed a cooperation protocol with RT.
Regionally, Mali's transitional president Assimi Goita received the head of KAMAZ in Moscow to discuss a 350-vehicle contract and a planned assembly project in Mali, while Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in Moscow his country "will remain a safe and reliable supplier" of gas.
