Support “against terrorism and extremism”
“Our country will continue to provide its full support to our African friends in different areas,” assured Russian President Vladimir Putin in a letter read on Sunday to senior officials from around fifty African countries.
This could be “sustainable development, the fight against terrorism and extremism, epidemic diseases, the resolution of food problems or the consequences of natural disasters”, according to this message read to the participants by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov.
According to the latter, Russia and African countries see “progress in all areas” of their cooperation, and this “despite artificial obstacles” opposed by the “collective West”, a term used by Moscow to designate the United States. and their allies. He also assured that Russians and Africans consider it “necessary to get rid of dependence on global mechanisms controlled by our Western colleagues”, particularly in the financial field.
“Russia is not a colonial power”
This conference comes after the Brics summit in October in Kazan (Russia), where Vladimir Putin wanted to demonstrate the failure of the policy of isolation and sanctions initiated by the West. In its strategy of informational influence, particularly on social networks, the Russian government often accuses Westerners of practicing “neocolonialism” in Africa, a rhetoric that resonates with some African leaders.
“Russia is not a colonial power” and “has never been a colonial power,” assured Saturday the head of Malian diplomacy, Abdoulaye Diop, on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa conference. “On the contrary, she stood alongside African people and other peoples around the world to help them escape the colonial system.”
Many Western officials accuse Russia of leading a conflict of an imperialist nature in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic.
Minerals, digital and security
In Africa, groups of Russian mercenaries like Wagner, or its successor Africa Corps, support local authorities, and “advisers”, according to Moscow, work with officials. This is particularly the case in the Central African Republic and the Sahel, where the growing influence of Russia has been accompanied by the meteoric decline of that of France.
But, for officials gathered in Sochi, support must go beyond security issues. “We need to develop digital technology, digital technology in Central Africa,” with support from Russia in these areas, Marie Thérèse Chantal Ngakono, commissioner for regional planning and infrastructure at the Economic Community of Africa, told AFP. Central African States (ECCAS).
Large Russian groups are also closely interested in African raw materials: Alrosa in Angola and Zimbabwe (diamonds); Lukoil in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Congo (oil); Rusal in Guinea (bauxite)… “We have more than 75 minerals in Africa. And they are not used well,” notes Young Piero Omatsaye, founder of the Jet Age Nation builders organization aimed at promoting the progress of the African continent.
“Thanks to a partnership with Russia,” one of the largest exporters of gas, oil and diamonds, “we will be able to use these resources well,” said this Nigerian politician. For Bakary Sambé, director of the Timbuktu Institute in Dakar, interviewed this week by AFP, the question of a long-term partnership nevertheless arises: “Would Russia grant the same interest to Africa” if the conflict in Ukraine was “ending?” Is it a “real strategic priority” or a temporary interest linked to its standoff with the West?
