Russia wants a piece of Africa and it isn’t content to stand in line behind China, the United States, and the rest of Europe to have
According to documents leaked to the Guardian, “Russia is seeking to bolster its presence in at least 13 countries across Africa by building relations with existing rulers, striking military deals, and grooming a new generation of ‘leaders’ and undercover ‘agents’.”
Take, for example, Russia’s recent presence in the Central African Republic. There were `175 Russian private security contractors deployed to Berengo Palace to train more than a thousand Central African soldiers.
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Russia’s been popping all over Africa. “In Madagascar, Russian political strategists were said to be funding several different candidates ahead of presidential elections in 2018. In Sudan, Wagner was supposedly advising President Omar al-Bashir on how to shore up his power. In the Central African Republic, Russia was allegedly donating arms and receiving cut-price minerals contracts in return. In Djibouti, a Russian request to build a military base was rebuffed only after vociferous complaints from the United States,” The Mail & Guardian reported.
And Russia even inserted itself in South Africa’s general elections. According to the Daily Maverick’s Ferial Haffajee, Russian operatives created a plan “to create a disinformation campaign that favored the ANC and put out propaganda against the opposition DA and EFF for the 2019 election.” Russia had been secretly courting former President Jacob Zuma.
It seems Russia needs Africa. As the Guardian’s Luke Harding, explains: “Vladimir Putin’s recent interest in Africa is in large part pragmatic. Western sanctions on Russia’s economy mean that Moscow is keen to find new markets and to strike new partnerships…There is an ideological dimension too. Putin sees Russia as a great power — with interests across the globe, stretching from the former Soviet ‘near abroad’, to the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. It is — or should be — an indispensable player in world affairs.”
Some in Africa are more then open to strengthening their relationship with Russia.
“Ensuring his escalating African efforts aren’t missed, Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will convene 50 African leaders at the first-ever Russian-African Summit in Sochi this October. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a frequent traveler to Africa, says its purpose will be to cement ‘Russia’s active presence in the region,’” Atlantic Council reported.
But Russia is competing with a number of other countries in trying to Get African nations to favor it. Russia is actually late to the game. “The United States already has its vast network of secret military bases that span the continent; France, despite its protestations to the contrary, fiercely maintains ‘La Francafrique’, the French sphere of influence that stretches over much of Francophone Africa; and China is building bridges and Confucius Institutes at a furious rate as it seeks to showcase both its economic and soft power,” The Mail & Guardian reported.
