This is not the first time Russian authorities have penalised Google. In January 2025, a Russian court imposed a larger fine of 8 billion roubles ($77.9 million) on the company for failing to comply with previous penalty orders related to content regulations.

For several years, Russia has pressured foreign technology platforms to remove content it deems illegal, particularly information it classifies as “fake” about the war in Ukraine. 

When companies fail to comply, they face a series of fines that, while relatively small compared to their global revenues, represent a struggle between Moscow and Western tech firms over digital content regulation.

Nonetheless, YouTube is still a key platform in Russia, though its reach has diminished. Before the war in Ukraine, YouTube attracted around 50 million daily users in Russia. That number has now dropped to approximately 12 million, showing both regulatory issues and government efforts to push users toward domestic alternatives.

Alternative platforms such as VK Video and RuTube have attempted to fill the gap, but neither has eroded YouTube’s presence. Many Russian users continue to find ways to access YouTube content despite restrictions.

Russian authorities have been accused of deliberately throttling YouTube’s download speeds to hinder access to content critical of President Vladimir Putin and his government. 

Moscow denies these allegations, claiming that any issues users experience stem from Google’s failure to upgrade its infrastructure in the country—a charge that Google and independent technology experts dispute.

The fines imposed on Google reiterates the global issue of digital freedom, content moderation, and government control over online platforms. While no immediate international response has been issued regarding the latest fine, previous cases have drawn complaints from Western governments and digital rights organisations, which view Russia’s actions as part of a larger crackdown on free speech and independent media.

In December, President Putin escalated his rhetoric, accusing Google of being a tool of the U.S. government used to exert political influence. 

Google has yet to respond to requests for comment on the latest fine.

Lavrov, who said this during a speech at the MGIMO University, suggested that Durov’s laissez-faire approach to managing Telegram — valued by its nearly one billion users for its emphasis on privacy and freedom of speech — has made him a target for Western powers. 

“Pavel Durov was too free,” Lavrov stated, implying that the tech mogul’s refusal to conform to Western norms on content moderation has impacted his current predicament.

The Kremlin has also noted its unease over Durov’s detention. Per Reuters, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, downplayed any suggestion that negotiations were underway between the Russian government and Durov, who holds citizenship in both France and the United Arab Emirates. 

Nonetheless, Peskov pointed to the importance of ensuring that the investigations in France do not devolve into a politically motivated pursuit. 

Despite the serious allegations, Durov’s lawyer has dismissed the charges as baseless, arguing that holding the tech entrepreneur accountable for the actions of users on Telegram is unreasonable. 

The defence points to the sheer scale of the platform and the impossibility of monitoring every interaction on it. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has attempted to distance himself from any political undertones in Durov’s arrest, denying that the case is driven by anything other than legal issues. 

However, Lavrov’s statements, coupled with the Kremlin’s cautious stance, point to the fact that the situation has further strained relations between Russia and France, pushing diplomatic ties to a new low.

These are all serious challenges that businesses across the African continent currently face, or will face in the near future.

But with the right approaches, they also represent significant opportunities. In order to make the most of those opportunities, however, more funding – and debt-based funding in particular – is needed across the continent.

That was the consensus of a panel held this week in Johannesburg, South Africa, which brought together several experts who have a long track record of investing in a broad range of sectors across the continent.

On the panel were Bryan Turner, Partner at private equity firm Spear Capital; Philani Mzila, Investment Manager at venture builder Founders Factory Africa; and Zubair Suliman, Investment Director at Norsad Capital.

All three panellists and the companies they represent invest in companies of different sizes and at different stages in their growth journeys. Nonetheless, the challenges, opportunities, and solutions they all expect to see across Africa in the coming months are remarkably consistent.

Opportunities amidst crisis 

They all agreed, for instance, that the past few years – progressing from the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia’s war in Ukraine and a looming global recession – have shown that there are always investment opportunities in Africa, no matter what the prevailing conditions might be.

“In the African context, you have to invest in a very uncertain environment with a lot going on with different sorts of investment climates and factors,” said Mzila. “What that’s allowed us to do is to identify opportunities, even within a highly volatile market. We’re really bullish about the opportunities on the African continent.”

Turner, who experienced the 2008 Financial Crisis first-hand while working in London’s banking sector, said it was actually the opportunities present on the continent that drew him back and towards working for Spear.

“The rest of the world looks at Africa as though there’s no opportunity,” he said. “They’ll argue there’s no opportunity or that it’s too risky and it doesn’t work. But there are billions of people on this continent that need to eat, that want to be themselves. They want a better life and a better economy. Someone’s got to roll up their sleeves and do it.”

Suliman concurred, pointing out that his own experiences growing up in wartorn Mozambique exposed him to the importance of taking opportunities, no matter what the underlying circumstances might be.

“What I’ve learned from my family and friends is to find opportunities,” he said. “They’ve turned out to be some of the wealthiest people in the region because they identified those opportunities.”

He added that this ability to grab hold of opportunities has also been evident in his investment career, as well as the approach taken by Norsad Capital.

“Where others shy away from frontier markets, Norsad is there,” he said. “What makes it so exciting for me is that there’s no cookie-cutter cut and paste. But all of the companies we invest in have the ultimate purpose of building a better Africa.”

Riding the renewables charge

Turner, Mzila, and Suliman all believe that some of the most significant of the continent’s opportunities will be in the renewables sector. In saying that, they also emphasised that the focus on renewables shouldn’t just be about delivering renewable energy.

In fact, there is a need for the concept of renewables to be addressed in other areas. For instance, Mzila pointed to the example of a company in South Africa’s Limpopo province which uses discarded macadamia nut shells for water filtration.

“The water renewable space is underrated,” he said.

Turner meanwhile believes that there is significant opportunity around the minerals Africa is so rich with and which are so crucial to renewable energy. But, he pointed out, the old approach of purely resource-based economies in Africa is no longer fit for purpose.

“We want to create circular economies,” he said. “We’re tired of Africa being seen as nothing but the resources extraction point.”

For Suliman, getting renewables (in every sense of the word) right in Africa will require a very specific approach.

“It’s important to find things that have an immediate impact, allow you to capture the consumer, and then find ways to minimise international plays and grow the region,” he said.

Resilience required 

When it comes to the characteristics required for entrepreneurs to make the most of those opportunities, all three also agree that having a solid foundation and a sense of resilience are vital.

“You’re seeing businesses with really great fundamentals rise to the top,” said Mzila.

Suliman agreed, pointing out that, “It’s the businesses with good fundamentals, and good management, the resilient companies that navigate challenging times successfully.”

A lot of the time, that resilience comes down to the characters of the entrepreneurs concerned.

“We look at the character of the people at our companies and their leaders,” said Suliman. “And then we look into the company and see how they can make an impact.”

“The reality is that you have to buy into an entrepreneur’s vision and see beyond the pitch deck and spreadsheet,” Turner added.

More deals, demystifying debt 

Ultimately, however, the panellists noted that their organisations can only do so much and that really unlocking Africa’s entrepreneurial potential requires a greater number of investors doing deals.

“We found there are so many opportunities on the continent where we’re the only show in town,” says Turner. “It shouldn’t be like that. It should be competitive. There should be a lot of companies competing for good deals.”

Mzila concurred.

“My ideal outcome is more people in the ecosystem, more risk appetite, and more deals,” he said.

But they also believe that there needs to be a shift away from equity-style funding on the continent to a debt-focused one.

“There’s not enough understanding of the power of debt,” said Turner. “Debt isn’t scary – it’s how the world creates wealth and we need more of it to ensure that entrepreneurs are able to get funding without having to dilute equity and hand it over to investors who’d happily take the shirts off their backs.”

According to Suliman, venture debt (a type of loan aimed specifically at early-stage, high-growth companies with venture capital backing) could prove particularly important on the continent.

“There’s a gap missing in the debt space and it is venture debt,” he said. “Venture debt would be best. The opportunities are there – they need to be packaged.”

In order for that to happen, the panellists said, belief in and understanding of Africa’s potential needs to be more widespread.

“The thing that stands out for me is the potential of Africa,” Mzila concluded. “It was the only region around the globe that attracted more funding in 2022 than in the previous year. It’s about belief in the broader ecosystem.”