Jakarta –
At the last UN General Assembly session last February, countries such as Botswana, Zambia and Tunisia supported Ukraine’s position, while Mali and Eritrea opposed it, and 15 other African countries voted to abstain.
Why don’t so many African countries oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? One of the reasons is Russia’s strong influence in African countries. One of the main goals of Russian diplomacy is to gain diplomatic legitimacy for its war in Ukraine.
“Russia really needs Africa,” Mark Duerksen, research fellow at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, told DW. Support is important, especially when Russia is currently facing increasing international isolation.
Many governments in Africa are still authoritarian and often isolated themselves internationally. That’s why these countries welcomed the partnership that Russia offered.
“Even before the Ukraine war, we saw Russia aggressively trying to build support for its policies, often when those policies conflicted with European or NATO or North American policies,” Justin Arenstein, CEO of Africa’s largest technology network, Code for Africa, told DW. .
The influence of Wagner and Russian propaganda in Africa
Russia is important to many African countries because it has veto power in the UN Security Council. In addition, Russia’s military involvement plays an important role. Wagner Group mercenaries are active in countries such as Mali, Libya and the Central African Republic. In return for deploying the mercenaries, the Wagner Group gains access to expensive raw materials such as gold.
The Wagner Group also played a role in spreading the Kremlin’s political influence. In Mali for example, France and several Western countries withdrew their troops stationed there, after 10 years of helping the war against Islamic militants. Mali alone then cooperated with Russia and asked the UN to withdraw the MINUSMA peacekeeping mission. Mali is now cooperating more closely with Russia, which is sending Wagner Group mercenaries.
According to the International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Stockholm, 44% of weapons sold to African countries between 2017-2021 came from Russia.
Russia also uses social media to spread a lot of propaganda and disinformation. According to Duerksen, this strategy has been very successful in countries that do not have a tradition of an independent and free press. The Wagner Group has been the main actor in several cartoon propaganda videos in Africa. In one scene, for example, Russian soldiers are fighting in Mali against zombies that symbolize French soldiers, who once colonized Mali.
Journalist Dimitri Zufferey of the non-governmental group All Eyes On Wagner which tracks the activities of the mercenary groups said: “We know that there is Russian money involved in political associations.
“Russia also pays African influencers to spread its propaganda”, says Mark Duerksen. Take Kemi Seba, an influencer with more than 1 million followers on Facebook, who frequently posts anti-Western and pro-Russian content. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he claimed that Moscow was “trying to reclaim Russian land”.
Historical connection
Russia’s state television channel RT has also expanded its network in Africa. RT has various partnerships with media outlets, such as Afrique Media, which spreads pro-Russian and anti-Western propaganda. According to a study by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Russia’s influence is greatest in the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, Sudan and Zimbabwe — countries where the Wagner Group operates.
Russia’s popularity in Africa also has historical ties to the times of the Soviet Union and the fact that Russia was never a colonial power during the colonial era. Many African countries enjoyed the support of the Kremlin when they fought for independence in the 20th century.
However, this does not mean that all Africans support Russia’s attack on Ukraine. An opinion poll conducted last June among citizens in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia showed that the majority of respondents considered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to be contrary to international law principles.
(hp/as)
See also ‘Sah! Putin bans Russian citizens from sex change operation’:
(it/it)
2023-07-28 05:28:13
#Extent #Russian #Influence #Propaganda #Africa
