RABAT, November 29. /TASS/. African nations are showing consistently high interest in procuring Russian grain, the Board Chairman of the Russian Union of Grain Exporters, Eduard Zernin, told TASS in a written interview.

"We see the steadily high interest of African countries in Russian grain, which is not surprising, considering the best price and quality ratio of our product in the global market," he said.

"The capacity of the Middle East and African market is about 170 million metric tons per year and it will grow. The population of Africa is growing quickly, but climatic conditions do not contribute to self-sufficiency in grain," Zernin noted.

"Exports to Morocco and Nigeria have already increased significantly in the current season of 2024-2025. Kenya is gaining momentum and has already become one of the main importers of Russian grain," he added.

"Russia, the EU, Argentina, Canada, Australia, and the US are key exporters of grain and pulse crops at present. All of them are present to a certain extent in the African market and compete with each other and with us," the expert continued.

"We consider the EU to be the main competitor in the market, but European suppliers will continue losing competitive positions due to ineffective sector regulation and climate change," Zernin concluded.