Александр Зингман на мероприятии A7.
The Russian A7 network, which Western countries regard as a tool for circumventing sanctions, is expanding its operations in Africa and may be becoming increasingly closely linked to the Kremlin’s foreign policy and military interests. The British think tank Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) reached this conclusion in a new investigation into A7’s activities in African countries. Among participants in events linked to the opening of the network’s African office, researchers identified Belarusian businessman Aliaksandr Zingman (Alexander Zingman), who is close to Viktar Sheiman.
According to the authors of the investigation, A7 is controlled by Russia’s Promsvyazbank and Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor, who is under EU, UK and US sanctions. CIR says the organisation is used to facilitate international payments and circumvent Western restrictions imposed on Russia.
In September 2025, A7 announced the opening of its first African offices in Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Russian Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov and Promsvyazbank Deputy Chairman Mikhail Dorofeev attended the opening ceremony. The authors of the investigation noted that, despite extensive coverage of the event in Russian media, it received virtually no attention in the local press in Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
After examining video footage of the opening of the Lagos office published later, researchers concluded that Aliaksandr Zingman was among the guests. The footage shows him sitting at the same table as senior Russian officials. CIR stressed, however, that it had no information about the capacity in which Zingman attended the event.
In addition to Zingman, researchers identified his alleged business partner Jad Michel Ibrahim at the event. Another person seen in the footage, according to the authors, closely resembles another of Zingman’s partners, Oleg Vodchits, but the quality of the recording does not allow the identification to be considered reliable.
The document stressed that the nature of the relationship between Zingman, his company Aftrade and the A7 network remains unclear. The researchers explicitly said they were not yet able to determine whether a business relationship exists between them.
The investigation’s main conclusion concerns A7 itself. According to CIR, while the organisation was initially focused primarily on helping Russian companies circumvent sanctions, it is now becoming part of Moscow’s broader foreign policy strategy in Africa. The authors pointed to visits by A7 representatives to Togo and Madagascar that coincided with an intensification of Russian military and political cooperation with those countries, as well as A7 job vacancies for positions in Togo, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
The authors believe A7 could be used to finance trade and potentially other projects linked to Russian interests in Africa, but stressed that this hypothesis requires further confirmation. In their view, it is already possible to say that the network is becoming increasingly closely integrated into the Kremlin’s strategic projects in Africa.
The full investigation can be read here.
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Head of the National Anti-Crisis Management and representative of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus Pavel Latushka told Reform.news that information about the risks and identified mechanisms used to circumvent sanctions would be communicated to US and European partners.
“Such shadow financial operations do not merely undermine the effectiveness of international restrictions but also directly finance the repressive apparatus inside Belarus and military aggression in the region”, Pavel Latushka said.
The politician said the United Transitional Cabinet’s position “remains unwavering: economic pressure on the regime must be systematic, and enforcement of sanctions must be uncompromising”. “Financial loopholes, including the use of unregulated crypto instruments, must be closed”, he said.