The Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, starts on Tuesday an African tour in view of strengthening the relationships between his country and the continent. Moscow’s influence in Africa was substantial during the Cold War but took a serious knock after the fall of the USSR. 

From Wednesday to Friday, Mr Medvedev will visit Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia and Angola with the objective to broaden Russia’s economic presence in those countries.

Besides Medvedev, Vladimir Putin is the only other Russian President who has visited sub-saharan Africa in an official capacity. He visited Morocco and South Africa in 2006.

Nigeria and Russia are expected to sign an agreement to cooperate in the development of nuclear energy and to create a joint venture between Gazprom - the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company - and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.