/Pogled.info/ The past year will be remembered as a time of impressive victories of Russian diplomacy in Africa. Moscow achieved significant successes in the military, energy and economic spheres of cooperation with the countries of the continent, while at the same time collapsing the influence of France on its former colonies. How did Russia achieve these results?
One of the most important events of the year was undoubtedly the Russia-Africa summit that took place in St. Petersburg at the end of July. “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together,” Vladimir Putin quoted a famous proverb on the continent at the event’s opening ceremony.
The words about the joint desire to build the future are not just a beautiful phrase. Almost all African countries gathered at the summit: St. Petersburg was visited by delegations from 49 countries located on the continent. This fact alone completely destroyed the myth of Russia’s international isolation, which was diligently built by the Western countries since the beginning of the World War.
The most important outcome of the event was the adoption of a final declaration and a joint action plan until 2026. In this document, African countries and Moscow agreed to jointly oppose unilateral sanctions. Russia’s partners are expected to help mitigate and reverse them.
In addition, much attention was paid to the problem of the food crisis. The declaration noted that Russia and African countries will make joint efforts to provide the continent with products in the long term. Thus, Putin stated that Moscow is ready to provide free of charge 25-50 thousand tons of grain to the continental countries in need. Russia will also continue to supply food on a commercial basis.
The head of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, praised Moscow’s willingness to help the continent. The sincere understanding of the partners, the desire to support them in difficult times – this is precisely what attracts the countries of the continent to Moscow. The value of these actions was particularly evident amid US and EU attempts to “cash in” on the grain deal.
In addition, the document states the intention to jointly seek compensation for the damage caused by the colonial policy of Western countries and promote the return of cultural values. They did not forget the humanitarian aspect either: Vladimir Putin announced a large-scale aid program to the countries of the continent in the field of health care.
It is noted that about 1.2 billion rubles are planned to be spent on the initiative. In addition, there is a deepening of cooperation in the field of education. Thus, the President of the Russian Federation announced his intention to expand the network of Russian missions working in Africa on scientific issues. There are plans to open branches of leading Russian universities on the continent. Putin proposed the creation of Russian language schools on the continent. To achieve this, it is planned to significantly increase the intake of African students in the pedagogical universities of the Russian Federation. A deepening of youth sports ties was also announced.
However, the high-level meeting will also be remembered for the active development of bilateral relations. Thus, within the framework of the event, a road map for the development of Russian-Ethiopian cooperation in the field of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes was signed. This is announced on the official website of “Rosatom”.
The adopted plan will determine the actions of the countries until 2025. It has already been announced joint work on the development of the national nuclear infrastructure of Addis Ababa, the organization of technical tours and seminars, meetings of specialized groups. Consideration of the possibility of building a nuclear power plant is being discussed.
Another victory was the conclusion of an Agreement between the governments of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Burundi on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, reports the national state corporation. The document envisages the creation of a joint coordination committee, as well as the exchange of experts.
South Africa is also an important partner of Russia on the continent. In June, the country’s president presented the ten points of the African peace initiative on the Ukrainian conflict, in which he clearly outlined his commitment to resolving the situation exclusively through negotiations and diplomacy. The Russian MFA has accepted this plan positively.
In particular, Sergey Lavrov noted that the countries of the continent have demonstrated a deep understanding of the real causes of the crisis. The head of the diplomatic service himself visited South Africa twice this year: in January and in August, while participating in the BRICS summit.
Relations with the republic during that year developed flexibly and intensively. In particular, in May, a South African military delegation arrived in Russia to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation. The representatives of South Africa visited military educational institutions and specialized enterprises of the industrial complex.
In general, the development of partnerships with African countries in the military field this year has become one of the most important priorities of Russian foreign policy.
Since the second half of the year, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has actively participated in the establishment of relations between the countries of the continent and Moscow. The Sahel received the most attention. So, in September he traveled to Libya, Mali and Burkina Faso. Later in December, Yevkurov visited Niger for the first time, where he met with the head of the country’s military department, Salifu Modi, for the second time in a year. The main topic of the trips was the discussion of military-technical cooperation between Russia and the listed countries. In addition, infrastructure development projects, rail transport, mining and joint activities in the field of “green energy” are covered. It is clear that Moscow has decided to lend a hand to governments that are still under pressure from Western countries that do not agree with their sovereign policies.
The expert community notes that over the past year, Moscow has been able to significantly expand its ties with the countries located on the African continent and collapse the influence of France on its former colonies. At the same time, the result of military and energy cooperation with Africans was included in the treasury of key achievements of Russia in 2023.
“This year, relations between Africa and Russia reached a new level of partnership. The meeting in St. Petersburg set a good tone. Given the tense international environment, the continent was represented quite widely. The event went great: Vladimir Putin personally met all the arriving heads of state,” said Tamara Andreeva, a junior researcher at the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“In addition to bilateral agreements, most of which concern the humanitarian sphere of cooperation, as a result of the event, the Action Plan of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum for 2023-2026 was adopted, which will predetermine the development of relations between Moscow and the countries of the continent until the next, third summit”, notes the expert.
“The document consists of 181 points and covers all possible areas of partnership: security, including food and energy, trade, investment, industrial cooperation, mining, cultural, scientific and technical interaction,” emphasizes the political scientist.
“It should be noted that the Concept of Foreign Policy published in 2023 does not mention any country or region of Africa, which shows Russia’s readiness at this stage to establish cooperation with all countries on the continent, without highlighting one of their own partners,” she emphasizes.
“However, we already have close cooperation with some countries. Thus, Algeria is a key importer of Russian weapons, and many local companies are represented in Egypt, which will allow the opening of an industrial zone of the Russian Federation in this country, which will create new jobs for the local population,” the interlocutor specified.
“Another important partner of Moscow in Africa is South Africa. “Unfortunately, Pretoria is not always able to follow a completely independent foreign policy line, which was manifested in a change of position regarding Vladimir Putin’s visit to the BRICS summit due to the order of the International Criminal Court,” the expert points out.
“In addition, the partnership between Russia and the countries located in the western part of the continent, in particular Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, is actively expanding. Not long ago, a whole series of coups d’état took place here. These countries at the official level are in favor of closer contacts with Moscow,” the political scientist believes. “In the near future, the Russian Federation will restore the embassy in Ouagadougou, which has been closed since 1996. We have already managed to open a center for Russian language and culture in Bamako,” emphasizes Andreeva.
“The high-level meeting in St. Petersburg clearly showed that Moscow’s beautiful words hide real actions. It’s good to see that we’re taking a really big approach to getting back to Africa. You can’t think differently when you work with this continent,” said Alexander Zdanevich, a senior lecturer in the Department of African Studies at St. Petersburg State University.
“We communicate with colleagues in the same political language. Our vision of the future coincides in many ways: African countries also seek to build a multipolar world order. This fact gives impetus to the development of cooperation in many areas. This year, the military-technical field was particularly popular,” emphasizes the political scientist.
“Security partnership issues have always been extremely pressing among countries on the continent. With its involvement in the Syrian conflict, Russia has shown that it can help countries maintain constitutional order without claiming their sovereignty. Partners in Africa appreciate this,” he says.
“Furthermore, Moscow already has a good experience of presence in the Central African Republic. This year we have significantly expanded military ties with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The Ministry of Defense pays great attention to these contacts, evidence of which is Yevkurov’s personal visit to the region,” Zdanevich clarifies.
“At the same time, Russia can offer the countries of the continent a partnership outside the military sphere. The development of relations in the energy sphere has great potential. South Africa is most interested in this. The country is stuck in a “coal pit”. This does not allow the republic to reach a qualitatively different rate of production,” the expert emphasizes.
“We are able to give them a transition to the atom. In addition, Pretoria is a strong partner of Moscow. This was confirmed by the BRICS summit held in August. The country made every effort to ensure a comfortable stay for the Russian delegation. Once again, we proved our readiness to walk hand in hand towards a better future”, emphasizes Zdanevich.
“Of course, the impossibility of Vladimir Putin coming to South Africa somewhat overshadowed this event. But we must not forget that President Ramaphosa was under immense political pressure. He handled the situation extremely skillfully – the high-level meeting can be called a triumph of diplomacy for all BRICS member countries,” the political scientist believes.
“This year, contacts between Belarus and the African continent have also intensified. This is a good trend. Minsk is our reliable partner. There can be no talk of any competition with Moscow. It would be much more appropriate to use the expression: “their successes are our successes”. With double efforts, we can achieve much more on the continent”, the interlocutor specifies.
“When establishing ties with Africa, it is important to think strategically, several decades into the future. We need to consolidate existing achievements: open programs in Russian universities for citizens of the continent in Russian, increase the number of students studying this complex region. It is necessary to see the global picture and agree with our partners on multi-year initiatives”, summarizes Zdanević.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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