Russia and Ethiopia signed a document on Thursday calling for the planning and construction of a nuclear power plant in the east African country, RIA news agency quoted Rosatom, the state-owned Russian nuclear corporation, as saying.

An action plan on development and construction of the facility was signed during a nuclear power forum by the general director of Rosatom, Aleksei Likhachev, and Ashebir Balcha, CEO of the Ethiopian Electric Company, RIA said.

The document said the two sides agreed to create a detailed construction plan and a “road map” for the technical and economic foundation of the project and an intergovernmental agreement to proceed.

The agreement also calls for training for staff in operating the plant and developing the nuclear sector.

Earlier, Niger’s mining minister Ousmane Abarchi said his country wanted to build two 2,000-megawatt nuclear reactors in partnership with Rosatom.

Abarchi said Niger was also proposing to cooperate with Russia in developing uranium reserves in the west African country. “Please, let’s develop our uranium deposits together,” he told a nuclear forum in Moscow, speaking via a translator.Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev described the proposals as “extremely interesting”.

Niger is among a group of African countries with which Russia is cultivating close ties, including in the area of security. According to the World Nuclear Association, Niger was the eighth largest producer of mined uranium in 2024.

said the proposed nuclear plants would be developed under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. “Yes, we have big ambitions, but this is very important for us. This is very important for the entire African continent,” he said.

Several other countries have put forward proposals to build nuclear power stations, including Ghana, Algeria, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sudan. South Africa is the only country in Africa with an operational nuclear power plant, but reactors are under construction in Egypt.