French-Speaking African States Under Kremlin's Politico-Military Influence
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Russia has noticeably intensified its diplomatic relationship with French-speaking Africa after the second Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg. It has focused on dealing with growing French neo-colonialism which obstructs Russia's desire to expand geopolitical and military influence especially in West African region. The republics of Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mali have come under the stringent control of Kremlin, as leaders frequently shuttle between their capitals and Moscow.
Ultimately,
African countries are bound to wake up to a common understanding of the
true meaning of their colonial past for the present, and determine
their own future existence. And in fact, the leaders and the elites have
to engage in development decision-making processes, and at the same
time have to play their roles as autonomous actors instead of being
pawns in global politics
Analysis indicates that Moscow's geopolitical and military inroads
is steadily gaining unshakeable grounds. It has tightened its hold
across the Sahel-Saharan part of Africa and strategically extending such
militarized influence towards to the Gulf coastal West Africa. As
well-shown, the Francophones are exhausted of France's exploitative
approach and desperately for an alternative to building a more fairer
and a more mutual economic relations.
Policy
experts and researchers have widely written in their published papers
about (i) Russia's alleged involvement in the political changes in these
French colonies with the fractured economy and (ii) the fact that the
region constitutes a nutritious breeding field for armed Islamic
jihadist groups, demonstrates Russia's first drastic step towards
combating terrorism and ultimately penetrating into the entire G5 Sahel
in West Africa.
Despite this widely
published allegation of determining political directions, Moscow
officially said it was rather seriously concerned about the economic
under-developments and the deepening instability as well as the
impoverished population in the region. Moscow has showered humanitarian
assistance, described as "delivery at no-cost" and intended to ensure
food security during the fourth quarter 2023, on these countries.
While
updating the implications of this 'free food' as its strategic part of
the soft-power, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mali have battered their
natural resources, in exchange for creating military bases in the
respective territories. Russian state-owned arms trader Rosoboronexport,
as part of signed military-technical agreements, has delivered
Russian-made combat and transport helicopters, armoured personnel
carriers, small arms and ammunition to these Sahel-Saharan African
countries, the Vedomosti newspaper reported.
Oleg
Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Head of
the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, spoke in an
interview with RIA Novosti and explicitly pointed to the fact that
Russia has no military bases nor military troops in Africa. "We don't
have a military presence there. There are appeals to the Russian side
for help in ensuring security. This is not a military presence. Military
presence is when troops are sent. We send instructors at the request of
the African states themselves. But all this is not a military
presence,” Ozerov said.
From late
last year to almost half 2024, the focus has been on West Africa. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recieved almost ten (10) foreign
ministers (including Nigeria, Gambia, Gabon, Mali and Sierra Leone) and
Kremlin hosted Equatorial Guinean President President Teodoro Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo, then Chadian Transitional President Mahamat Idriss Deby
in January, followed by Guinea-Bissau leader Umaro Sissoco Embalo.
Moscow is moving further down from the Sahel-Saharan region, an
elongated landlocked territory located between North Africa (Maghreb)
and West Africa, to the Atlantic coast of West Africa.
On
May 9, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Guinea Bissau
leader Umaro Sissoco Embalo as one of the special guests to the
celebrations. It was simultaneously intended to strengthen the
relationship. Umaro Sissoco Embalo was already there four times during
the past couple of years since the 'special military operation' began,
and also as part of the team to discuss peace initiatives with the
Kremlin. He was at the second Russia-Africa summit held July 2023.
In
a speech on that day, Putin first reminded, among other indelible
facts, the successful defeat of Nazism and asserted Russia's
independence, and the support it (then Soviet Union) provided others to
their anti-colonial struggles and self-determination. Putin stressed
"Africa is now building up capacity and aspires to emerging as an
effective powerhouse in a multipolar world with its unique identity by
making confident strides in nurturing a genuine sense of political and
economic sovereignty."
During the
exclusive talks with Guinea-Bissau's delegation, including
Guinea-Bissau's Chief of the General Staff and army generals, Putin
reiterated expanding bilateral partnership in economic, scientific and
technological spheres, on grounds that ties between two countries are
rooted in long-standing traditions of friendship, as well as the
principles of equality and mutual respect. "We have been maintaining
effective inter-parliamentary and inter-agency ties too. Today, we have
an opportunity to discuss our performance under bilateral agreements in
various sectors and further steps to expand our cooperation. I must note
that students from your country continue to study in Russia. We are
ready to offer Guinea-Bissau an even bigger quota," he told the
delegation.
Russia has been paying
special attention to its relations with African countries and seeking to
ease their debt burden. But also for Putin, military-technical
cooperation is at the prominent spot during closed-door negotiations.
Russia has focused to deal with France in most Francophone countries in
West Africa.
Umaro Sissoco Embalo, on
his part, expressed gratitude for the support which Russia has been
giving to the Government and the people of Guinea-Bissau. Over 70
percent of Guinea-Bissau's servicemen and civilian officials were
trained in the Soviet Union. This explains the necessity for the level
of close interaction and cooperation with Russia.
Series
of conferences and meetings proliferate these years, and Russia has a
new dialogue format – the Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa
Partnership Forum, at the level of foreign ministers. Without doubts,
Russia is looking to gain political support from African countries on a
number of issues, including the 'special military operation' in Ukraine
and the sanctions against Russia. Reports indicate Moscow is seriously
working on arrangements for the first meeting of this kind, which is
scheduled to take place in November 2024 in Sochi. Notwithstanding that,
St Petersburg's late July Russia-Africa summit resulted in the adoption
of a solid package of joint documents, including a detailed declaration
and a specific plan of action until 2026.
Nonetheless,
many experts say Russia has its own distinctive style and approach, set
out to battle against exploitation of resources, or better still what
is often phrased "the scramble for resources” in Africa.
Samir
Bhattacharya, an Associate Fellow at Observer Research Foundation
(ORF), where he works on geopolitics with particular reference to Africa
in the changing global order, says Africa, especially the
French-speaking West African countries continue to face multiple
democratic challenges with a wider negative impact across the region.
The narrative that depicts Russia a proactive coup advocate is
compelling and seems to hold water. Russian flags being flown in the
streets in West Africa. The entire region is experiencing sharp
disintegration characterized by differences in political systems,
economic structures and cultural norms in member countries.
Unfortunately, military takeovers have become a distinctive feature (or
accepted norm) of regime change in West Africa.
Bhattacharya
said it would be overly generalizing to attribute the coup to
neocolonialism alone. With eight coups in three years, the Sahel region
in West Africa is most affected by coups. However, a close examination
reveals that the Sahel Region has endured violent extremism, civil
unrest, and poor governance for a very long period. It unmistakably
shows how France and other Western powers are losing ground in this
region. Frustration with France and other foreign powers increased
fairly naturally as their military intervention failed to stem the
Islamist insurgency that was spreading throughout the region.
Therefore,
the West cannot address the issue merely by blaming Russia. And Russia
can not blame only neocolonialism. There is fear that as many African
nations continue to be beset by widespread complaints of poor
governance, nepotism, and distress, many more within the region and
beyond may eventually see military takeovers of a similar nature.
Tracking all these bilateral developments implies that Russia's
engagement in Africa definitely requires an in-depth study, according to
Bhattacharya.
In another insightful
interview, Professor Sergiu Mișcoiu at the Faculty of European Studies,
Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), where he serves as a
Director of the Centre for International Cooperation and as Director of
the Centre for African Studies, discusses the political situation in the
French-speaking West African countries, the existing multiple
challenges and Russia’s diplomacy within the context of current
geopolitical changes and the scramble for influence in Africa.
Professor
Sergiu Mișcoiu argued that neo-colonialism in Africa has been a growing
reality after the end of the Cold War and reached a pinnacle by the
early 2000s. More salient cases are the former French colonies, and
Russia is focused on uprooting France out of the continent. Vladimir
Putin has intended to restore the mightiness of the Soviet Union,
including its influence over the African continent. But unlike the USSR,
Russia didn’t and doesn’t dispose of the financial and logistic
resources needed to massively invest in the key-sectors.
That
compared, China has disposed of important financial resources and has
been at least between the 1990s and the end of the 2010s incomparably
less violent than Russia in spreading its influence all over the African
continent. And China succeeded in impressing via its investments in the
road and railway infrastructures, in ports, in some major public
buildings and in other sectors. As compared to China, Russia made almost
no difference through its modest investments and bet its entire
strategy on this mixture of, on one hand, the renewal of the former USSR
networks and the Soviet past, and on the other, the direct intrusion in
the domestic conflicts of the most vulnerable African states.
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French-Speaking African States Under Kremlin's Politico-Military Influence
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh Russia has noticeably intensified its diplomatic relationship with French-speaking Africa after the second Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg. It has focused on dealing with growing French neo-colonialism