# Russia and China Compete for Africa With Arms and Solar Panels as Iran Says Blockades No Longer Work

Rosoboronexport reports rising African demand for Russian weapons, Chinese renewable equipment is undercutting American oil promotion on the continent, and Tehran's business chamber says a multipolar economy makes total isolation impossible.

- Published: 2026-09-07T05:14:53.350Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-07/russia-and-china-compete-for-africa-with-arms-and-solar-pane
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3366527/how-chinas-green-tech-undercutting-trumps-drill-baby-drill-oil-strategy-africa?utm_source=rss_feed), [TASS](https://tass.com/defense/2183455), [IRNA](https://www.irna.ir/news/86249487/%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%86%D9%86%D8%AF-%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%A8%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D9%87%D8%B2%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%DB%8C)

Alexander Mikheyev, chief executive of the Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, said African interest in Russian weapons grows every year and that African armed forces remain long-standing users of Soviet and Russian equipment, [TASS reported](https://tass.com/defense/2183455). The claim comes from the seller and no independent order figures accompany it, but African procurement patterns have been shaped for decades by the maintenance and training costs of switching platforms.

On the civilian side, [the South China Morning Post reported](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3366527/how-chinas-green-tech-undercutting-trumps-drill-baby-drill-oil-strategy-africa?utm_source=rss_feed) that Chinese solar and battery equipment is winning African energy contracts against American promotion of oil and gas development, and that cost is the deciding factor for most governments on the continent rather than any position on climate policy. Chinese manufacturers can quote a delivered price per unit of installed capacity that United States exporters cannot match.

From Tehran, the head of the Iran-Russia joint chamber of commerce told [Iran's state news agency, IRNA,](https://www.irna.ir/news/86249487/%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%86%D9%86%D8%AF-%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%A8%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D9%87%D8%B2%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%DB%8C) that the purpose of American sanctions is to raise the cost of Iranian transactions rather than to stop them, and that in a multipolar world an absolute economic blockade is difficult to sustain. He argued that shared commercial interest between states is the practical answer, and called for reducing the cost of Iranian foreign trade.

Those three statements describe one process from three positions. Sanctions and export controls raise the cost of using the dominant financial and industrial network, and every increase in that cost improves the relative position of an alternative supplier who does not require access to it. The alternative is more expensive in absolute terms and less capable, which is why it did not win before, and it wins now because the comparison has changed.

## What this means

The channel is relative price. Each restriction on dollar clearing or Western technology transfer raises the delivered cost of the Western option and lowers the effective threshold a Russian, Chinese or Iranian supplier must clear to win the contract. Western defence exporters, energy service firms and banks lose share in African and Asian markets through that arithmetic rather than through any political decision, and Chinese renewable manufacturers and Russian arms exporters gain volume. The longer-run consequence is settlement infrastructure built to avoid the dollar, which reduces the reach of future sanctions.

## What to watch

- Published African arms procurement contracts and their currency of settlement, the concrete test of whether Russian claims about demand translate into orders.
- The share of new African generation capacity supplied by Chinese manufacturers, which measures how far the cost advantage is converting into installed infrastructure.
- Whether Iran and Russia formalise a non-dollar settlement mechanism for bilateral trade, a step that would move the argument from rhetoric to plumbing.