Africa: a new land of opportunities for Russia

            After Latin America and Asia, Russia is moving its pawns to another continent: Africa. Indeed, after a Russia-Africa summit in Sochi in 2019, bringing together 43 African leaders[1]In Sochi, many Russian investments were signed. Traditionally, Russia has exported arms and grain to Africa, but on the occasion of the Sochi summit, it is working to diversify its activities in Africa[2]. To do this, Russia relies on three economic sectors: hydrocarbons, mining and nuclear energy, always in addition to security and armaments[3]. According to the latest figures, in 2018, Russian trade with the continent amounted to $20 billion, which represents an increase of 17.2 % over the trade volume of 2017[4]. Russian exports to Africa have doubled in three years, and now account for 4 % of its total exports, up from 1 % five years ago[5].

            Despite this, armaments remain one of Russia's most important exports to Africa[6]. In Mali, in addition to weapons and ammunition, four Russian helicopters of the Mi-171 type were delivered to Bamako, under a military cooperation agreement signed in 2019[7]. Russia is increasingly active where French military troops are present (Sahel, Central African Republic)[8]. To this day, some African leaders call on Russian arms and military aid, as did the Central African and Malian leaders recently[9].

            During his speech at the UN, Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga denounced the "abandonment" of France in the fight against jihadists in Mali, while stressing the need to resort to other partners[10]. After the coup in August 2020, Mali and its leaders want to diversify its military alliances as a free sovereign state[11]. In reaction to the words of the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, who was outraged by Chiaga's speech at the UN (words are "unacceptable" and "properly indecent") [12]Prime Minister Maïga had declared the French military operation a failure Barkhane within the Malian territory, in place since 2012[13]. Mali's leaders see Russia as a potential ally, which explains recent discussions with representatives of the private Russian military group Wagner, which has been present in Africa for years.[14].

            According to unnamed sources quoted by Bloomberg, Russian mercenaries were deployed in several African countries, including Sudan, the Central African Republic, Libya, Zimbabwe, Angola, Madagascar, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and even the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)[15]. Operating under different names and structures, such as companies related to gold and diamond mining, as well as military training and cyberwarfare, the Wagner Group had numerous subsidiaries that were deployed in Libya, South Africa, Sudan and Mozambique to "train local armies, protect high-level personalities, fight rebel and terrorist groups, in addition to protecting diamond, gold and uranium mines".[16]. In exchange for these services, Wagner's branches would have obtained exclusive privileges, contracts and licenses to provide weapons, technology and military services, but also to exploit natural resources in these countries[17]. The Wagner Group is also known to have contributed to the protection of the Central African President Touadéra and to the training of soldiers in the country, which is in the grip of a civil war[18].

            Currently, negotiations to host the Wagner group in Mali are causing concern among Europeans[19]The European Union has been working on the development of a European Union-wide strategy for the protection of the environment, including the French, Germans and Estonians, who are militarily engaged in Mali in the framework of the Operation Barkhane[20].

           Like China, Russia is working to maintain a zone of influence in Africa, like the Soviet Union during the Cold War[21].

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