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[reminder]
Weapons, mercenaries and trade deals: Russia grows stronger in Africa
Dakar - May 05, 2022

In the middle of the offensive in Ukraine, Russia and Cameroon signed a military agreement on April 12 for the exchange of information and training of troops, a type of deal that has become common in Africa and already exists in around 20 countries. Over the last decade, Moscow has extended its influence throughout the African continent based on three pillars: the sale of weapons, the presence of instructors and mercenaries, and trade agreements and investments in sectors such as cereals, hydrocarbons, energy and minerals.

Nothing happens by chance. In return, a third of African countries abstained on March 2 at the vote condemning the invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly. This is taking place against a backdrop of growing popular sympathy for Russia and disaffection towards the West, which is seen as linked to a colonial past. There is a feeling of Soviet déjà vu harking back to the 1960s and 1970s.

Last week, two Russian combat helicopters and radars landed in Bamako. Since France decided to withdraw from Mali, the flow of weapons and military vehicles from Moscow to this country has intensified to previously unseen levels. Meanwhile, hundreds of Russian military instructors belonging to a Russian private military force known as the Wagner Group have landed in this African country, according to France and the US, and are already operating on the ground in the fight against jihadism. Since the end of 2021, coinciding with their arrival, reports from human rights organizations have noted an increase in abuses, torture and extrajudicial executions, such as the Moura massacre in which around 300 civilians died in this location in central Mali, according to Human Rights Watch. Al Qaeda last weekend announced it had captured a Wagner mercenary. And a Russian instructor died on April 19 after the vehicle he was traveling in hit a bomb.

While Europe and the United States intensify their sanctions against the regime of Vladimir Putin, African countries are maintaining a high degree of collaboration with Russian companies. “It is not that Africa is going to save Russia, but the continent is becoming one of the priorities of the Kremlin’s foreign policy, which will become much more aggressive in conquering African markets and in its propaganda, positioning itself as an alternative to its Western competitors,” says Tatiana Smirnova, an expert on relations between the two territories at the Centre FrancoPaix, at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada.

Russia’s trade with Africa amounts to around €20 billion a year, according to statements made to Russia’s news agency Tass by the director of the African Export-Import Bank, Benedict Oramah. In any case, it is far behind powers such as China, the United States, France or even Turkey, which has been increasing its trade with Africa since 2014, when the figure stood at about €10 billion. Back then, Africa’s neutrality on the subject of sanctions against Moscow for the occupation of the Crimean peninsula stimulated Russia’s interest in the continent. Investments are also on the rise.

In the mining sector, one particularly relevant company is Rusal, headed by the oligarch Oleg Deripaska who is a personal friend of President Vladimir Putin and the target of Western sanctions. Rusal extracts bauxite in Guinea. But there are others such as Norgold, Renova, Alrosa or Vi Holding operating in countries like South Africa, Angola, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic, where they extract gold, diamonds, manganese and platinum.
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