Russia and Africa Are Building an Independent Digital Environment
The panel discussion “The Digital Architecture of the Future: Co-Designing Technological Sovereignty for Russia and Africa” took place on October 9 on the sidelines of the 2nd Global Digital Forum. Experts discussed ways to achieve technological independence, including technology transfer, infrastructure development, cybersecurity, workforce training and industry cooperation.
The session was moderated by Vasily Zudin, PhD in Economics, Advisor to the Vice President of Rostelecom and Director of International Business Development at the Center for Global IT Cooperation (Russia). He outlined the session’s main goal: developing practical recommendations for achieving digital sovereignty and transferring technology to the region.
Roger Andjalandji, Minister of Digital Economy, Posts and Telecommunications of the Central African Republic (CAR), outlined concrete steps toward these goals. He believes digital sovereignty is not about isolation, but about a country’s ability to protect critical infrastructure, manage external dependencies on its own terms and build domestic expertise. The CAR hopes to draw on Russia’s experience to address cybersecurity challenges and expand its fiber-optic networks.
“We are proposing a partnership that will inevitably have long-term consequences. Becoming a model for other African countries is a very worthwhile initiative,” the minister emphasized.
Andrey Maslov, Director of the Centre for African Studies at HSE University (Russia), identified priorities for Russian businesses in Africa: targeted workforce training, joint research and the design of local digital architectures, as well as transparent mechanisms for ensuring returns on investment. According to Maslov, more than 90% of Africa’s internet traffic passes through a bottleneck near Gibraltar, creating risks that Russia could help mitigate through satellite-based solutions.
Dmitry Obragin, Commercial Director of Signaltek, argued that digital sovereignty is impossible without developing a domestic electronics industry. His company’s success is built on niche specialization in systems for lawful interception of communications (SORM), information security and critical infrastructure protection. This has enabled it to develop versatile hardware platforms and begin designing its own chips. This less capital-intensive model offers a valuable example for partners: focusing on specific areas of expertise and fostering industry cooperation, backed by government support, is the most effective path to sovereignty.
Dr. Barney Harmse, Founder and Group Chief Development Officer of Paratus Telecom (Namibia), shared his experience of working across 16 African countries over 24 years. The keys to success, he said, are a focus on physical infrastructure and operational flexibility. He stressed the need to diversify partners significantly. Companies cannot “put all their eggs in one basket” given political and regulatory risks, he explained, citing his own company’s experience with accounts being blocked by Western banks. His main advice to Russian companies entering African markets was to develop long-term plans.
Mikhail Tolkunov, Director of Business Development and Analytics at A7-Agent, addressed the issue of payment sovereignty. Amid concerns about the reliability of Western financial channels, Russian fintech solutions that use AI to route transactions help businesses make payments worldwide. The company handles around 20% of all cross-border business transfers and has opened offices in Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
Russian companies are changing their approach to the African market, moving from equipment sales toward joint development and localization. Sergey Slednev, Director of International Sales at RDP Enterprise, noted that his company offers partners not off-the-shelf products, but collaborative product customization to meet local legal requirements. Alexey Ivanov, representing Rostelecom, added that the company offers ready-made digital ecosystems modeled on services such as Gosuslugi (Russia’s public services portal) and telemedicine. A particular strength of Russian solutions, he said, is the expertise gained from dealing with cyberattacks on a daily basis.
Dr. Nkunde Moses Mwasaga, Director General of the Tanzania Information and Communication Technologies Commission, described Tanzania’s digital transformation under its Vision 2050 strategy. The strategy covers digital skills development, cybersecurity, “trust infrastructure,” 4G telecommunications coverage, research and entrepreneurship. Mwasaga emphasized that Tanzania sees Russia as a reliable partner in diversifying its technology stack and invited Russian companies to invest in new projects:
“We want to work together on a range of challenges, building bridges not only between our governments but also connecting startups and companies in Tanzania and Russia, so they can enter our market and invest.”
In closing, Anton Evsyukov, Head of the Information Technology Support Department in the Directorate for Strategic Partnership and Cooperation of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, presented Russia’s vision of digital sovereignty and outlined practical mechanisms for cooperation. He defined digital sovereignty as a country’s ability to control infrastructure, data, information flows and software within its national jurisdiction. Proposed options for partners include transferring end-to-end technologies, localizing solutions, replacing imported products with open-source alternatives and offering Russian products under white-label arrangements. Highlighting Russia’s strengths in cybersecurity and education, Evsyukov said the country was ready to work with friendly nations to build a broad, sovereign digital space. The Russia–Africa forum scheduled for late October will be an important step in that direction.
