Nairobi/Abuja - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was expected to lead a delegation to Nigeria on Wednesday on the second day of an African tour aimed at securing energy and mineral deals. China has led the charge in signing agreements to extract Africa's bounty of natural resources and analysts say Russia is now keen to catch up.
Medvedev is leading a delegation of energy and business officials, including representatives from gas giant Gazprom, and will meet his Nigerian counterpart Umaru Yar'Adua in the capital Abuja.
Gazprom wants to get involved in Nigerian gas pipeline projects, particularly the Trans-Saharan Pipeline, which is expected to bring Nigerian gas to Europe.
The Russian delegation is also expected to sign a deal that will allow Russia to tender for the construction of nuclear power plants.
Nigeria wants to turn to nuclear power to solve its growing energy crisis, and is planning to have its first plant online by around 2017.
Medvedev spent Tuesday in Cairo, where he signed bilateral agreements covering media, anti-narcotics, justice, national archives and radio and TV, the Egyptian foreign ministry said.
The Russian delegation is also expected to visit Angola - along with Nigeria Africa's biggest oil producer - and Namibia, which has large reserves of diamonds and uranium.
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