Ammon News - After the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was redcarded by the international community. Having being acquired pariah status, Moscow is trying to remain an active global player, with growing influence despite the sanctions imposed. If not in Europe, then at least in the countries of the Global South, namely, in Africa. Russia is rapidly filling the void emerged from the weakening of attention to this region by the West - the United States, the Great Britain and France.
One of the Kremlin’s tools is the first ministerial meeting of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, which will be held on November 9-10 in the Sirius Federal Territory (Krasnodar Krai, Russia).
According to the organizers, “the event aims to strengthen comprehensive cooperation between Russia and African countries in all dimensions: politics, security, economics, as well as scientific, technical, cultural, and humanitarian issues.” Behind these words, which Russian diplomacy so skillfully uses, are violence, murder, robbery, coups, dictatorship.
Today, there are a lot of security threats in Africa: territorial disputes, political radicalism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, underdevelopment and weak state capacity. For any pariah state, such a hotbed of problems is opportunities to achieve its goals.
The Kremlin does not care about the implications for African countries.
Russia often claims its policy is aimed at maintaining stability and cooperation in Africa. But its intervention in Libya, Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique often goes along with an escalation of interstate, ethnic, and religious conflicts, which leads to the destabilization of countries and chaos.
Moscow brings war and famine, increases political instability and the weakness of state institutions in Africa, worsening the environmental situation and increasing technological dependence on Russia. The methods used by the Russians to establish control over African countries are completely imperialistic. At the same time, Putin accuses the West and former metropolises of neocolonialism.
For Putin, Africa is a “battlefield” with the United States, the Great Britain, France using proxy PMCs (Russian private military companies). Russia’s involvement in the development of the continent's natural resources, their control over uranium, diamond and other deposits is no less important for the Kremlin. Russia also seeks to control an uninterrupted logistics chain from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean.
Dependence of the countries of the region on Russia and aggravates the internal crises of already unstable states
At the same time, Russia has very weak economic ties with African countries: their main partners are the USA, the EU, and China. Russia has less than 1 % of the foreign investments coming into Africa. But Moscow supplies African countries with almost half of all the weapons they purchase abroad: Russia sells weapons, ignoring the human rights situation.
The sale of weapons is converted into political influence. But for Russia, this is also a profitable market for its products. In August 2021, Dmitry Shugaev, Director of the Russian Ministry of Defense's Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, said that arms supplies to Africa accounted for 30-40 % of the total volume of Russian arms exports.
The Kremlin is actively using anti-Western rhetoric to strengthen its own positions in Africa. Moscow is turning the knife in the open wound of the African colonial past, blaming the West for their economic woes and political instability. The Russians are organizing special information campaigns, spreading propaganda through the media and social networks aimed at discrediting the United States, the EU and the UN.
These information campaigns also increase tensions between ethnic groups and political forces, which contributes to the destabilization of the situation in the region. But this is just a side effect: Russia's multi-million dollar investments in the work of the Sputnik agency and the RT pay off, given the popularity of Putin and the Russian flags in some African countries and joy they feel during the flag-burning of the United States and France.
At the same time, many residents of African countries do not think about Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that led to a decrease in Ukrainian wheat supplies and an increase in grain prices on the world market, which could result in famine for East Africa. The continent is the most vulnerable in the world in ensuring food security: 20 % of the population of Africa (278 million people) suffer from chronic hunger.
In 2022, Russia partially blockaded Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which seriously affected the export of grain crops. For Africa, this resulted in delays in deliveries and grain shortages, since sea transport plays a key role in providing the continent with food. In July 2023, Russia officially withdrew from the “grain deal”, which further complicated African countries' access to Ukrainian grain.
Putin, hypocritically blaming the West for the failure of the “grain deal”, stated that Russia was able to replace Ukrainian grain “both on a commercial basis and free aid”. In the best Kremlin’s propaganda traditions, it demonstratively organized deliveries of small batches of fertilizers and wheat to African countries. Unfortunately, this eyewashing was successful: Africans again blamed the West, not Russia, for their troubles.
A catastrophic scenario of mass starvation was avoided: Ukraine, despite Russia's withdrawal from the “grain deal” and constant missile strikes on Ukrainian ports and dry cargo ships, continued
Finally, it is critical for the Kremlin to control the voting process of African countries in the UN on resolutions on Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Africa is 25 % of the UN member states. The most countries of the continent take a neutral position there. At the same time, the number of countries supporting Russia and the number of countries condemning it are approximately equal.
Russia is trying to strengthen its position in Africa as a counterweight to Western influence. Often in cooperation with China or being in conflict with it. All this leads to increased geopolitical competition and the undermining of trust in organizations and countries dealing with security issues in Africa.
To advance its interests, Russia uses anti-Western sentiments among the elites of various African countries, Africans' memories of the economic and military aid of the USSR during the Cold War, the pro-Russian lobby, and corrupt regimes.
Russia regularly builds relationships with authoritarian leaders of African countries, supporting them with arms supplies. This helps strengthen the positions of dictators who often suppress the opposition and violate human rights, which leads to internal conflicts and deepening instability.
The Kremlin's bet on authoritarian regimes leads to the weakening of democratic institutions in African countries, systematic violations of human rights, and the repression of freedom. As a rule, African political leaders are interested in the development of their countries only in the context of strengthening their power, its family succession or side deals between elites.
The Kremlin also actively supports the military who came to power as a result of coups: under pressure and isolation from the West, juntas need at least partial international recognition, military and political support. They are assisted by mercenaries closely associated with the Russian Ministry of Defense. The most famous are the Wagner PMC and the African Corps.
In addition to military operations against rebels, Russian mercenaries train the armies of the Central African Republic, Mali, Niger and other African states, guard strategic facilities, and ensure the safety of the country's top officials. But, according to the international human rights organizations, these mercenaries often commit war crimes against civilians, which exacerbates humanitarian crises.
For example, the UN accused Russian mercenaries and government troops of the Central African Republic of looting houses, attacking schools, killing civilians, including believers in mosques where rebels were hiding. The Human Rights Watch international organization accused the armed forces of Mali and mercenaries from the Wagner PMC of involvement in robberies, torture, as well as extrajudicial executions and disappearances of civilians in the central part of the country.
Moscow is most successfully strengthening its position in the Sahel, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are actively developing cooperation with Russia, which supports the juntas that came to power. Last year, these countries signed a mutual defense agreement with Russia and withdrew from ECOWAS regional association. Mali has terminated the agreement with UN peacekeepers.
The actions of Russian PMCs create the appearance of an effective solution to the problem of Tuareg separatists and Al-Qaeda militants. But the issue has not been solved. This does not prevent Russia from establishing control over gold and uranium mines on favorable terms. This increases dependence of the countries of the region on Russia and aggravates the internal crises of already unstable states.
At the same time, Russia has very weak economic ties with African countries: their main partners are the USA, the EU, and China. Russia has less than 1 % of the foreign investments coming into Africa. But Moscow supplies African countries with almost half of all the weapons they purchase abroad: Russia sells weapons, ignoring the human rights situation.
The sale of weapons is converted into political influence. But for Russia, this is also a profitable market for its products. In August 2021, Dmitry Shugaev, Director of the Russian Ministry of Defense's Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, said that arms supplies to Africa accounted for 30-40 % of the total volume of Russian arms exports.
The Kremlin is actively using anti-Western rhetoric to strengthen its own positions in Africa. Moscow is turning the knife in the open wound of the African colonial past, blaming the West for their economic woes and political instability. The Russians are organizing special information campaigns, spreading propaganda through the media and social networks aimed at discrediting the United States, the EU and the UN.
These information campaigns also increase tensions between ethnic groups and political forces, which contributes to the destabilization of the situation in the region. But this is just a side effect: Russia's multi-million dollar investments in the work of the Sputnik agency and the RT pay off, given the popularity of Putin and the Russian flags in some African countries and joy they feel during the flag-burning of the United States and France.
At the same time, many residents of African countries do not think about Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that led to a decrease in Ukrainian wheat supplies and an increase in grain prices on the world market, which could result in famine for East Africa. The continent is the most vulnerable in the world in ensuring food security: 20 % of the population of Africa (278 million people) suffer from chronic hunger.
In 2022, Russia partially blockaded Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which seriously affected the export of grain crops. For Africa, this resulted in delays in deliveries and grain shortages, since sea transport plays a key role in providing the continent with food. In July 2023, Russia officially withdrew from the “grain deal”, which further complicated African countries' access to Ukrainian grain.
Putin, hypocritically blaming the West for the failure of the “grain deal”, stated that Russia was able to replace Ukrainian grain “both on a commercial basis and free aid”. In the best Kremlin’s propaganda traditions, it demonstratively organized deliveries of small batches of fertilizers and wheat to African countries. Unfortunately, this eyewashing was successful: Africans again blamed the West, not Russia, for their troubles.
A catastrophic scenario of mass starvation was avoided: Ukraine, despite Russia's withdrawal from the “grain deal” and constant missile strikes on Ukrainian ports and dry cargo ships, continued to transport wheat through the Black Sea. But the story of grain deliveries to African countries demonstrates how the actions of the Russian bear contribute to increased instability and conflicts in the African “shop”.
The presence of Russian PMCs, support for authoritarian regimes, as well as control over natural resources deepen internal contradictions in a number of African countries. Geopolitical competition with the West and Russian information operations also raise tensions in the region. These actions impede progress in ensuring stability and security in Africa, leading to increased conflict and suffering of local population.
comment replay 