Malawi absent at presidential level at Russia–Africa summit

Twenty-two African countries have sent their heads of state to the third Russia–Africa Summit in Moscow, where leaders are discussing trade, food security, energy, investment and security cooperation. Malawi President Peter Mutharika is not among them.

The two-day summit, which opened on Wednesday and ends on Thursday, October 29, brings together delegations from 48 of Africa’s 54 countries, according to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.

It is co-chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye, the current African Union chairperson.

Among the leaders reported in Moscow are Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, Ghana’s John Dramani Mahama, Mali’s Assimi Goïta, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, Mozambique’s Daniel Chapo, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki and the Republic of the Congo’s Denis Sassou Nguesso.

Uganda, Rwanda, Algeria, Burkina Faso and South Africa sent senior representatives instead.

The agenda covers trade and investment, agriculture, energy, transport, education, science, technology and humanitarian cooperation.

Participants are expected to adopt a Russia–Africa partnership action plan for 2027 to 2029, along with a declaration on the civilian use of artificial intelligence.

Russian officials say trade with African countries exceeded US$27 billion in 2025, up from about US$16.8 billion in 2019.

Mutharika’s absence raises questions over what Malawi stands to gain.

Fertiliser supply, agricultural machinery, irrigation, electricity, mineral processing, scholarships and technology partnerships are all on the table at the summit, but it is unclear which, if any, Malawi has pursued.

Human-rights advocates and political scholars have also called on Malawi to demand stronger safeguards over recruitment schemes that allegedly expose African youths to Russian war-related industries. It is not yet clear whether Malawi’s delegation has raised the issue.

A ministerial delegation can represent the country and negotiate agreements, but the government has yet to say who is representing Malawi, what proposals it has tabled, which Russian officials it has met or what benefits it expects to secure. It has also not publicly explained the President’s absence.

The summit follows earlier gatherings in Sochi in 2019 and St Petersburg in 2023. The 2023 meeting drew 17 African countries represented by heads of state, according to the Kremlin, compared with 22 this year.