Sergey Lavrov’s trip to Africa through the eyes of Russian experts
Russia secretly mines and practically smuggles gold out of Sudan – in significant volumes and under the protection of law in local hunting. This is evidenced by the results of a recently published investigation conducted by CNN.
Judging by the investigation, at least 16 cargo planes with gold on board have recently flown from Khartoum to Russia. In return, the ruling elite of Sudan receives powerful political and military assistance from Moscow, including mercenaries from the Wagner PMC.
This is just one of the examples indicating the activation of Russian representatives in the composition.
We also remind you of the recent visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Egypt, Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia. The tour, made at the height of the war in Ukraine, is a disaster on the Kremlin’s close interest in the continent, observers say.
African state problems of the danger of famine in connection with the Russian aggression against Ukraine, which seriously aggravated the problem and put a number of countries on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The UN World Food Program estimates that over 50 million Africans could face food insecurity this year.
Moscow prefers to “feed” Africa with its consumption, becoming its exporter on the continent. According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, Russia accounted for 44% of the armed forces sent to the region from 2017 to 2021.
The head of the US Agency for Combating Development, Samantha Power, who visited the countries of East Africa, feared that the US had allocated $1.2 billion to prevent famine.
As for the activation of the Kremlin in the composition, then, according to the director of the Moscow Institute of Asian and African Studies Alexei Maslov, it includes a wide range of representatives, including an attempt to embrace the country’s international isolation.
“Russia is looking for completely new logistical opportunities,” Maslov explains. – In this sense, Egyptian and other African ports are extremely important for consumption, and in the future, probably for oil. I also think that Moscow will encourage a number of African countries to interact with either the BRICS or the SCO. This is important already in terms of, for example, the formation of new currency corridors, the creation of an alternative SWIFT system for the rapid transfer of money and a system of external settlements.”
The countries visited by Lavrov were not chosen by chance, Alexey Maslov noted. According to him, it also mattered that they have problems with leaving the United States, and also that it is not particularly acute with China.
“Russia resolutely offers them (some African countries) concrete investments. For example, in Egypt, this is a nuclear power plant, which is already under construction,” Maslov explains. – It is important here that only Russia can act in relation to those affected in its operation. In turn, Sudan and a number of other countries are rich in cobalt, copper, molybdenum, and these are materials that are used for the production of printed circuit boards and many high-tech components.”
Of course, Moscow also encounters the factor that almost half (25 out of 54) African countries adhere to an electoral position when voting at the UN on the issue of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, director of the Institute for Total Asia and Africa.
Maslov also notes the military aspect of the situation.
“It is possible that sooner or later the question of creating military bases on the continent will arise in Russia – for example, in video centers for the repair of marine equipment. The problem itself is “opened” and China has already taken over its military base in Djibouti. “And, in general, in the near future it is definitely worth considering the category of players on the African continent,” sums up Alexey Maslov.
As political scientist Alexei Nikulin said, Sergei Lavrov’s African tour requires significant isolation of Russia in the international arena, as well as the results of voting in various international organizations, including the UN General Assembly, against Moscow’s aggressive policy in the international arena.
With regard to internal advertising of the Russian Federation, today it is urgently necessary to make sure that Russia is not alone, surrounded by several dubious allies.
“And here you are, please, a visit, indicating that we are expected with open arms and about meetings on the black continent,” the Voice of America interlocutor explained. “Africans have their own interests here. They do an excellent job of ensuring that Russia is now ready to provide support in words, and that enough material resources can be given for a few well-pressed buttons in a UN vote. Roughly speaking, Moscow, in the classical tradition, is looking for hired paid clients who, for a moderate bribe, will publicly comply with it.
As long as Russia still has resources in the form of sales funds and energy carriers, it can independently pay for African countries, they are interested in the outcome with Moscow, Nikulin states.
“However, some regimes will try to sell their loyalty to the West, and ideally to both sides, at the highest possible price,” the analyst continues. – Of course, such cooperation does not promise any material benefits for Russia. For a long period after the liberation from colonialism, the African state has learned very well how this can happen in order to obtain quite acceptable and important assets.
Those countries that are accepted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation are ready to take on the scale, but only for free or in exchange for promises, they will someday be straightened out, they will sink perfectly, that this will never happen, the political scientist believes.
On the other hand, it is suspicious that Russia is currently in a hard search to provide promising views of the black continent. In Russia today appear and put forward tasks on the proposal of their own crime, including in Ukraine. Well, the attempt to enlist the support of the Africans only respects the international isolation of the country,” Andrei Nikulin said.