Russia shipped a record volume of wheat to Tanzania in the 2025/26 season, exporting more than 850,000 tons, the Russian agriculture export agency Agroexport reported on Monday. 

The agency stated that the figure is 16% higher than the previous season and 47% above the five-year average. 

“Russia is a key supplier of wheat to Tanzania,” Agroexport said, adding that Russian exporters have steadily expanded their presence in the East African market in recent years.  

According to the estimates from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Tanzania imported around 1.5 million tons of wheat in the 2025/26 season, up 200,000 tons from the previous year and the highest level on record. 

Agroexport also reported that East African Community (EAC) countries are playing an increasingly important role in Russia’s wheat exports to Africa. Combined shipments to the bloc were about 3.5 million tons in the 2025/26 season, up 26% from a year earlier and accounting for roughly 16-17% of Russia’s total wheat exports to the continent. 

Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda remain the community’s largest importers of Russian wheat. 

The record shipments to Tanzania come as Russia continues to expand wheat exports across Africa. Agroexport reported last week that exports to neighboring Kenya rose 10% year-on-year to around 1.4 million tons in the current season through late May. 

Wheat exports to Egypt also increased by 19% this year, while deliveries to Sudan surged 78%, according to the agency. 

In May, Agroexport adviser Alexander Yakuba said shipments to the continent have grown by 22% over the past five years, topping $5 billion in 2025. Although grain continues to account for the bulk of exports, deliveries of value-added products – such as animal feed, yeast, soft drinks, tea and coffee concentrates, and molasses – have more than doubled. Agroexport predicts total agricultural exports to Africa could exceed $7.5 billion by 2030.