ABUJA (AFP) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev began a historic visit to Nigeria on Wednesday on a trip to seal strategic gas and nuclear energy deals with Africa's energy-rich powerhouse.

The trip, the first by a Kremlin leader to Africa's most populous country, is aimed at boosting Russia's economic and trade ties with Nigeria, officials said.
Medvedev, who arrived from Egypt on the second leg of an ambitious four-nation tour to reassert Moscow's clout in a former Soviet sphere of influence, is to hold talks with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua.
The Kremlin said ahead of the visit that boosting economic ties and trade will be a major focus of the talks between the two leaders.
The Nigerian leg of the trip is to culminate in the inking of key energy pacts.
Russian gas giant Gazprom, keen to boost its standing as a major supplier to Europe and North America, and the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will sign a gas agreement.
The two countries are also expected to clinch a “cooperation” deal on use of nuclear energy for electricity generation, to help Nigeria overcome a decades-long acute power crisis.
Oil-rich Nigeria produces less than 3,000 megawatts of electricity for its 140 million people, while South Africa produces more than 43,000 megawatts of electricity for a population a third the size.
Russia and Nigeria will also sign an agreement on cooperation in space and on mutual protection of investments, the Kremlin said.
The two sides will also agree on cooperation in space and on mutual protection of investments, the Kremlin said.
Nigeria is a member of the powerful OPEC cartel which pumps 40 percent of world oil. OPEC cut its production target three times late last year to stabilize prices that tumbled from record highs above 147 dollars in July.
“With a view to Nigeria's membership in OPEC and the Gas Exporting Countries forum, the presidents will discuss the issue of ensuring global energy security, as well as international cooperation in overcoming the world financial and economic crisis,” the Kremlin said.
Gazprom wants a stake in Nigeria's vast gas deposits and is ready to invest in energy infrastructure to get that access, officials said.
The Russian gas giant is eyeing a share in the Trans-Saharan Gas pipeline, a project aimed at tapping Nigerian gas to Europe as a way to diversify its energy resources.
Gazprom has complained it is far behind its foreign competitors in Africa, saying it is ready to mount a challenge to companies like Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil in Nigeria.
“They are planning to cover all of Nigeria with pipelines,” Alexei Vasilyev, head of the Africa Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said of Gazprom.
“There is an acute need for energy in the country,” said Vasilyev, who is traveling with Medvedev.
“Africa's oil and gas reserves are rising fast. That's the region with which we have to cooperate if we position ourselves as a great energy power,” he said.
Nigeria and Angola -- another stop on Medvedev's itinerary -- are competing for the title of the largest oil producer in Africa.
Moscow's ties with former client states came to a sudden halt with the Soviet collapse but the Kremlin has now emphasized its wish to revive relationships in Africa, rich in oil, gas, diamonds, metals and uranium.
Medvedev's predecessor Vladimir Putin was the first ever Kremlin leader to travel to sub-Saharan Africa when he visited South Africa and Morocco in 2006.
At 300 million dollars last year, trade with Nigeria is relatively insignificant. The country is Russia's second largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa, the Kremlin said.