/ world today news/ Russia and a number of West African countries have started significant military-technical cooperation. In addition to the delivery of military-technical production, it is about the possible deployment of Russian or joint military facilities on the territory of a number of countries in the Sahel region. This strengthens Russia’s geopolitical positions in the vast territory of former “French” Africa.
In November of last year, on the initiative of the Senegalese side, a telephone conversation was held between the presidents of Russia and Senegal, Vladimir Putin and Marc Salom. At the same time, the government of the Russian Federation approved the draft agreement “On military cooperation” with this country, prepared by the military department during the negotiations with the current authorities of Dakar.
According to the document, the preparation of which has been carried out since June and has already reached the “finish line”, military cooperation with Senegal provides for the exchange of military-political and military-technical information, stimulation of the supply of defense products, as well as interaction in the implementation of programs for national defense, in the training of military personnel and countering terrorism. The agreement is planned to be signed no later than February 2024.
According to the available data, in accordance with the agreement, joint training and retraining centers for local military personnel, including for working with military equipment, are planned to be located in the country on the western edge of the Black Continent.
At the same time, a large base of the French Air Force has been located near the country’s capital, Dakar, for many decades. The indefinite agreement between France and Senegal (1961) on military technical cooperation is still in force.
Military personnel from the former metropolis, whose sphere of influence in West Africa is rapidly shrinking, are authorized to be deployed in all areas of Senegal in the event of what is considered a “security threat” to that country.
During the Paris counter-terrorism operation in Mali (2019-2021), a limited contingent of the French army was deployed in eastern Senegal.
It is difficult to imagine that Parisians, who historically have very extensive connections in Senegal, remained ignorant of the intention of the local authorities to strengthen military-technical ties with Moscow.
Probably the most adequate French politicians (presumably still left) are willing to put up with this so that the remaining French positions in West Africa do not come under American control.
It is characteristic that precisely this policy was pursued by the administrations of Charles de Gaulle and his successors with regard to the military-technical cooperation of the Soviet Union with many countries of the former “French” West and Equatorial Africa.
In turn, the USSR followed the “rules of the game” in these regions, maintaining a balance and not seeking to completely invalidate France’s position in its former colonial fiefdom.
A military-technical agreement similar to the “Senegal” is planned to be signed no later than the 1st quarter of 2024 with Sao Tome and Principe (STP), an island nation that gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
The strategic location of two small islands at the crossroads of West and Equatorial Africa in the Gulf of Guinea makes it possible to monitor both regions, but especially the 10 coastal countries.
In March 2023, relations between Moscow and STP intensified. Thus, the Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Volodin, during a meeting with the head of the National Assembly of this African country, Selmira Almeida, in Sacramento dos Santos Lourenço, noted that Russia’s relations with Sao Tome and Principe “are still at the beginning of the road, but contacts of parliamentarians could give them additional dynamism”.
“It would be right to pay attention in the first place to the development of trade and economic ties, but also, of course, to build relations between our parliaments,” he said.
“Russia has always supported Sao Tome and Principe in the struggle for independence. We also receive great support in the fields of education and agriculture. Now our relationship and this support can reach a new level,” replied the head of the island nation’s parliament.
The development of relations with Senegal and the STP can be considered a logical extension of Moscow’s contacts with the “Alliance of Sahel States”, consisting of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
As noted on December 6 of this year the French Le Monde, “as a power that did not colonize Africa and that trained numerous soldiers from the continent during the period of independence and the first steps of independent development, Russia also offers weapons without demanding compensation”.
“In Niger, Russian partners are particularly popular: the new authorities have promised to destroy jihadist groups, and the Russians have promised to help…
Bamako, Niamey and Ouagadougou favor their “Alliance of Sahel States”, created in September this year by the militaries of this troika leaning towards Russia in the face of the threat of military intervention by pro-French countries in the Niger region… the larger some of the diplomatic efforts undertaken by Moscow in Africa in recent months are aimed at cooperation with the bloc described above. “
On December 4, the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Yunus-Bek Yevkurov visited Bamako and Niamey, where he signed an agreement on military cooperation with the Minister of Defense of Niger, which ended its military partnership with the EU, Salif Modi (the content of the document is not yet is revealed).
The Russian military delegation was also received by the head of Niger’s National Council for the Defense of the Homeland, Abdurahman Chiani. Earlier, at the end of August, Yevkurov met with the President of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, and the Malian leader, Asimi Goita, where they discussed the possibilities of strengthening the defense and military partnership between the countries.
The purpose of the December visit to Mali was to further discuss opportunities to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries. It is reported that the delegation will stay in Mali for almost two weeks to explore the possibilities of implementing energy projects.
In October and November, the countries signed several memorandums of cooperation in the fields of renewable energy, medicine, agriculture, civil aviation, nuclear energy and its applications, oil, railway construction and coal mining.
“Today energy is a big problem and within two weeks a delegation will arrive here that will assess and allow us to quickly resolve all issues related to providing the population with energy, as well as air transport, rail transport, mining research and sending satellites to Mali,” said the African country’s minister of economy and finance, Aluseni Sanu.
“In this way, we will be able to fully cover the country with the Internet, telecommunications networks, monitoring and us,” the minister also noted.
According to him, Russia will participate in the construction of the railway and tram network in Bamako. In addition, the possibility of creating a regional airline to operate flights to Burkina Faso and Niger is also being discussed.
On November 22, Mali’s Minister of Economy and Finance Alouseni Sanou announced the signing of an agreement with Russia to build a refinery in Bamako with a capacity of 200 tons per year, which “will allow us not only to control all gold production, but also and be able to properly apply all taxes and fees.’
The enterprise is expected to become the largest gold processing plant in the country; The production of the industrial yellow metal in Mali in 2022 is 66.2 tons.
On October 13, Deputy General Director of Rosatom N. Spassky and A. Sanu signed in Moscow a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.
We are talking about the development of the nuclear infrastructure of the Republic of Mali, raising public awareness of nuclear technology, fundamental and applied research, the use of radioisotopes, nuclear, radiation and physical safety, personnel training, nuclear research facilities and nuclear energy.
In addition, an agreement was signed to build a 200-300 megawatt solar power plant in Mali by mid-2025.
It should be noted that Russia cooperates in the military sphere with Gambia, which borders only Senegal, and shows interest in the technical means of the coast guard.
During the August international military-technical forum “Army-2023″ in Zhukovsky near Moscow, Gambia’s Deputy Chief of General Staff Mamat Cham said that the Morena unmanned aerial vehicles used in the naval sphere and some other means ” are wanted to monitor the water areas and the coast guard of the Gambia. That is why our country is interested in buying these Russian products”.
According to the available information, projects have been developed for more active military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and other West African countries, where there are prospects for the formation of a full-fledged military-political union based on common interests and the implementation of large joint economic projects.
It is naive to believe that Russian African projects will be “strewn with roses”: for example, on October 31, the Tuareg nomads of the Azawad Coordination Movement accused Russia, Turkey, Algeria and the Alliance of Sahel States of supporting the military regime in Bamako.
After withdrawing in November under pressure from pro-government forces from their former “capital” of Kidal, the separatists have regrouped in semi-desert areas, declaring their readiness to continue fighting, wearing down the Malian army. And on December 9, fighters under the black flag of the ISIS group, banned in Russia, destroyed a military base of the Malian army near the border with Niger.
It is more than likely that acts of sabotage and terrorism will continue to be supported by forces that are decidedly unwilling to come to terms with the new post-colonial realities that are making their way into West Africa.
Translation: SM
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