DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat has pledged aid and military assistance while in multi-country whirlwind tour of sub-Saharan Africa of the Sahel this week as Moscow seeks to increase its influence in the restive, mineral-rich part of the continent.
Russia is emerging as the security partner of choice for a growing number of African governments in the region, displacing traditional allies such as France and the United States. Sergei Lavrov, who has made several trips to Africa in recent years, this week stopped in Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso and Chad.
Moscow has aggressively expanded its military cooperation with African nations using the private security firm Wagner and his potential successor, Africa Corpswith Russian mercenaries taking on roles ranging from protecting African leaders to helping states fight extremists.
The Polish Institute of International Relations said in a study this month that “in creating the Africa Corps, Russia adopted a dynamic approach to expand its military presence in Africa.
Moscow is also seeking political support, or at least neutrality, from many of Africa’s 54 countries regarding its invasion of Ukraine. African nations are the largest voting bloc at the United Nations and have been more divided than any other group on General Assembly resolutions criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Entities linked to Russia are also spreading disinformation to undermine ties between African states and the West, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, an academic institution of the US Department of Defense, wrote in a report. Moscow is “sponsoring 80 documented campaigns, targeting more than 22 countries,” it said.
Here’s a look at how Russia is expanding its influence in Africa.
WHY ARE AFRICAN NATIONS TURNING TO RUSSIA?
Russia took advantage of the political unrest and discontent in the coup nations, tapping into popular frustration and anger with former colonial power France. Military coups have toppled governments close to France and the West and are doing little to alleviate poverty, unemployment and other hardships.
Russia offers security assistance without interfering in politics, making it an attractive partner in places like Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, all ruled by military juntas that seized power in recent years. In return, Moscow seeks access to minerals and other contracts.
There has been violence linked to extremists allied with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group on the rise in the Sahel for years, despite efforts by France, the US and other Western allies to help fight jihadist groups there. In 2013, France began almost a decade operation in Mali to help fight militants, which was extended to Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. The operation ended nine years later, but the conflict did not, which contributed to anger with the West.
The US has further lost ground with key allies to enforce issues – including democracy or human rights – that many African states see as hypocritical given Washington’s close ties to some authoritarian leaders elsewhere.
While the West may press African coup plotters on democracy and other issues, Russia does not interfere in domestic affairs, Rida Lyammouri, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, told The Associated Press.
WHAT IS RUSSIA’S INTEREST IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES?
Africa is rich in minerals, oil and other resources, which come with political and legal challenges. Its resources are increasingly central to economic and national security, such as cobalt, which is used in electronics such as mobile phones, or lithium, which is used in batteries.
Russia has expanded into countries where governance is limited and has signed mining deals through companies it controls. One Study of the European Parliament showed that Russia secured access to gold and diamonds in the Central African Republic, cobalt in Congo, gold and oil in Sudan, chromite in Madagascar, platinum and diamonds in Zimbabwe, and uranium in Namibia.
The US-based non-profit group Democracy 21 said in an analysis last December that Wagner and Russia may have earned about $2.5 billion through the African gold trade alone since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Although Russia is increasingly an oil and mining partner of African countries, it lags far behind as an overall trading partner. For example, International Monetary Service figures show less than 1% of Africa’s exports go to Russia, compared with 33% to the European Union.
WHERE ARE RUSSIAN CONTRACTORS OPERATING IN AFRICA?
The first reports of Wagner mercenaries in Africa emerged in late 2017, when the group deployed to Sudan to provide support to then-president Omar al-Bashir in exchange for gold mining concessions. Wagner’s presence soon extended to other African countries.
In 2018, Russian contractors appeared with their backs powerful commander Khalifa Hifter in eastern Libya; who was fighting the militants. They also aided Hifter in his failed attempt to capture the capital Tripoli a year later.
In the Central African Republic, Russian mercenaries have been providing security since 2018 and in return have gained access to some of the country’s gold and diamond mines.
Coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022, and in Niger in 2023, brought to power military juntas critical of the West. All three eventually ordered the withdrawal of French and other Western forces and instead turned to Russia for military support.
Niger ordered it The US to withdraw its troops and to shut down the landmark multimillion-dollar investment in a sprawling military and spy base in Agadez earlier this year after a meeting with a US delegation ended badly. The decision has raised the American counterinsurgency operations in the Sahel of Africa.
Weeks later, Russian trainers arrived in Niger with new defense equipment.
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