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In October 2019, Russia held the first Africa-Russia summit. Dozens of African leaders attended in the hope to energise and reform the partnership dating back to the 1960s. The agenda of the summit seemed broad and ambitious. However, in practice, the talks narrowed down to quite conventional topics: weapons, mining, and fossil fuels.
During the summit, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak vowed to “widen and deepen” the cooperation with Nigerian fossil fuels producers. At the time two Russian companies, Lukoil and Gazprom, showed a clear appetite for Nigerian oil and gas.
They are not alone. In recent years, such oil giants as Shell, Exxon, Total, and Eni