Russian-African trade partnership in the context of geofeconomic fragmentation

Abstract

In the context of geoeconomic fragmentation and the reorientation of Russian export flows, the African macroregion has transformed from a peripheral partner into a strategic focus of foreign economic policy. Based on an analysis of statistical data, it has been established that the absolute growth in trade turnover by 88.7% is accompanied by the emergence of three key vulnerabilities: a critical asymmetry in the trade balance, commodity-specific specialization of exports, and extreme country concentration. Special attention is paid to the analysis of non-financial and institutional barriers, which at the micro level transform into operating costs and cash flow gaps for non-resource exporters.