Russian President Vladimir Putin has showcased a new model for Russia-Africa trade, using a coffee bean as an example. At the Russia-Africa Summit, Putin highlighted digital platforms like Wildberries, which allow products from a small Ethiopian village to reach supermarket shelves in Moscow. This model aims to enable direct sales of African products to Russian consumers, increasing the share of the retail price that goes to the producer. The platform handles customer service, payment, and delivery, benefiting both the village and the Russian shopper.
The Ethiopian village is not a hypothetical example, but a real partnership between Wildberries and Ethiopian Investment Holdings, Africa's largest sovereign wealth fund. On November 13, 2025, the merged Wildberries and Russ group signed a cooperation agreement in Moscow, and by April 8, 2026, RWB had begun selling Ethiopian goods to Russian shoppers. The group is developing a logistics facility to move goods between the two countries, including through a partnership with Ethiopost, the Ethiopian postal service. Ethiopia became the eleventh country in which the marketplace operates.
Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim tied the launch to Ethiopia's Digital Ethiopia 2030 agenda, noting that Ethiopian coffee is already a familiar name to Russian consumers. The company reports that sales of Ethiopian coffee rose 2.3 times in 2025 and were growing at a similar pace in 2026. South African tea sales doubled in 2025 and tripled in January and February 2026, while South African cosmetic creams grew sixfold in 2025. These figures demonstrate a growing demand for African products in Russia.
The traditional supply chain for coffee from Ethiopian smallholder growers involves multiple intermediaries, resulting in the grower receiving the smallest share of the retail price. A marketplace like Wildberries shortens this chain, allowing the cooperative to list roasted, packed coffee on the platform and handle customer service, payment, and delivery. This direct model enables the village to access a consumer market of over 140 million people and receive a bigger share of the retail price.
The traffic is meant to run both ways, with Ms. Kim describing Ethiopia as a first step towards exporting Russian goods and digital technology to Africa. Moscow and Addis Ababa are discussing larger fertiliser supplies, which could lift the yield of farmers whose coffee is heading north. Russian fertiliser goes in; Ethiopian coffee comes out. Wildberries already operates in several countries, including Armenia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, and works with sellers in China and the UAE.
Russia's trade with Africa has grown, with Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov reporting a 1.5 times increase in 2025 compared to 2023. However, Africa sells Russia roughly one dollar of goods for every five that Russia sells Africa, a gap of about $18 billion a year. Critics note that the Sochi pledge of $40 billion a year was never met. The imbalance is what Putin's Ethiopian village aims to address.
As Africa considers this new model, several questions arise. Who keeps the margin, and will value be added in Ethiopia? Does the model reach beyond the exceptional case, and can producers in other African countries access the same opportunities? What does dependence on a single platform look like, and how can African governments ensure interoperability and build African platforms alongside foreign ones? Finally, what happens to the supply chain in the event of a war?
Key points
- The Russia-Africa trade model, exemplified by the Ethiopian coffee example, aims to increase direct sales of African products to Russian consumers.
- The model has the potential to benefit both African producers and Russian consumers, but raises questions about margins, dependence, and supply chain risks.
- The success of this model will depend on its implementation and the ability of African governments to negotiate favourable terms.
