I took the Ethiopia and Somali with Russians last game. To save time, they hopped on a British transport after taking Iraq.
Russia had lost most of their territories. Japan had taken most of East, and Germany was in all the factories except Moscow.
The African territories, plus Iraq, Norway, and Finland, were providing Russia with 8 IPCs plus another 15 in national objectives. Seven British fighters in Moscow held of the bombing raids, and I think the extra income made the difference for Russia to hang on until the Allies turned the tide.
If the game had continued, I was likely to pick up Tobruk too!
Has anybody else gotten good bonus money for Russia from Italian Africa?