Experts assessed the results of the year in relations between Russia and African countries
The past year will be remembered as a time of impressive victories for Russian diplomacy in Africa. Moscow has achieved significant success in the military, energy and economic spheres of cooperation with the countries of the continent, simultaneously collapsing France's influence on the former colonies. How did Russia achieve these results?
One of the most important events of the year, without any doubt, was the Russia–Africa summit, which was held in St. Petersburg at the end of July. "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together," Vladimir Putin quoted a well–known saying on the continent at the opening ceremony of the event.
The words about the joint desire to build a future are not just a beautiful phrase. Almost all African countries gathered at the summit: delegations from 49 countries located on the mainland visited St. Petersburg. This fact alone has completely destroyed the myth of Russia's international isolation, which has been diligently built up by Western states since the beginning of its history.
The most important result of the event was the adoption of the final declaration and the joint action plan until 2026. In this document, the African States and Moscow agreed to jointly oppose unilateral sanctions. It is planned that Russia's partners will contribute to their mitigation and cancellation.
In addition, much attention was paid to the problem of the food crisis. The declaration notes that Russia and African countries will make joint efforts to provide the continent with products on a long-term basis. So, Putin said that Moscow is ready to provide 25-50 thousand tons of grain to the needy states of the mainland free of charge, TASS reminds. Russia will also continue to supply food on a commercial basis.
The head of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, praised Moscow's willingness to help the continent. Sincere understanding of the partners, the desire to support them in difficult times is exactly what attracts Moscow to the mainland. The value of these actions was particularly evident against the background of attempts by the United States and the EU to " cash in" on the grain deal.
In addition, the document states the intention to jointly seek compensation for damage caused by the colonial policies of Western countries and promote the return of cultural property. They did not forget about the humanitarian aspect: Vladimir Putin announced a large-scale program of assistance to the states of the continent in the field of healthcare, RIA Novosti reported.
It is noted that it is planned to spend about 1.2 billion rubles on the initiative . In addition, there has been a deepening of cooperation in the field of education. Thus, the President of the Russian Federation announced his intention to expand the network of Russian science missions operating in Africa. There are plans to open branches of leading Russian universities on the mainland. Putin proposed to create schools on the continent with teaching in Russian. To do this, it is planned to significantly increase the recruitment of African students to pedagogical universities in the Russian Federation. The deepening of youth sports ties has also been announced.
However, the summit will also be remembered for actively building bilateral ties. Thus, within the framework of the event, a roadmap for the development of Russian-Ethiopian cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy was signed. This is reported on the official website of Rosatom.
The adopted plan will determine the actions of the parties until 2025. Joint work has already been announced on the development of the national nuclear infrastructure of Addis Ababa, the organization of technical tours and seminars, meetings of specialized groups. Consideration of the possibilities of building a nuclear power plant is discussed.
Another victory was the conclusion of an agreement between the governments of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Burundi on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, the domestic state corporation reports. The document provides for the creation of a joint coordinating committee, as well as the exchange of experts.
South Africa is also an important partner of Russia on the continent. In June, the President of the country presented ten points of the African peace initiative on the Ukrainian conflict, in which he clearly outlined his commitment to resolving the situation exclusively through negotiations and diplomacy. The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted positively to this plan.
In particular, Sergey Lavrov noted that the mainland countries have demonstrated a deep understanding of the true causes of the crisis. The head of the diplomatic department himself visited South Africa twice this year: in January and in August, during a visit to the BRICS summit.
Relations with the republic have developed flexibly and intensively this year. In particular, in May, a South African military delegation arrived in Russia to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation, Interfax writes. Representatives of South Africa visited military training institutions and specialized enterprises of the industrial complex.
In general, the development of partnership with African countries in the military field this year has become one of the highest priorities for Russian foreign policy.
Since the second half of the year, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has been actively engaged in establishing ties between the states of the continent and Moscow. His greatest attention was paid to the Sahel region. So, in September, he traveled to Libya, Mali and Burkina Faso. Later, in December, Yevkurov visited Niger for the first time, where he met for the second time in a year with the head of the country's military department, Salif Modi. The main topic of the trips was the discussion of Russia's military-technical cooperation with the listed countries. In addition, projects for the development of infrastructure, railway transport, the extractive industry, and joint activities in the field of "green energy" are also touched upon. It is obvious that Moscow has decided to lend a helping hand to governments that are still under pressure from Western countries that disagree with their sovereign policies.
The expert community notes that over the past year, Moscow has managed to significantly expand ties with states located on the African continent and collapse France's influence on its former colonies. At the same time, the result of military and energy cooperation with Africans entered the treasury of Russia's key achievements in 2023.
"This year, relations between Africa and Russia have reached a new level of partnership.
The summit held in St. Petersburg set a good tone. Given the tense international situation, the continent was represented quite widely. The event was wonderful: Vladimir Putin personally met with all the heads of state who arrived," said Tamara Andreeva, a junior researcher at the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"In addition to bilateral agreements, most of which relate to the humanitarian sphere of cooperation, following the results of the event, the Action Plan of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum for 2023-2026 was adopted, which will determine the development of relations between Moscow and the countries of the continent until the next, third summit," the expert notes.
"The document consists of 181 paragraphs and covers all possible areas of partnership: security, including food and energy, trade, investment, industrial cooperation, mining, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation," the political scientist emphasizes.
"It should be noted that in the Foreign Policy Concept published in 2023, no country or region of Africa was mentioned, which indicates Russia's readiness at the current stage to establish cooperation with all mainland states, without singling out any of its partners," she emphasizes.
"Nevertheless, we already have close cooperation with some states. Thus, Algeria is a key importer of Russian weapons, and many domestic companies are represented in Egypt, which will allow the opening of an industrial zone of the Russian Federation in this country, which will create new jobs for the local population," the interlocutor clarifies.
"Another important partner of Moscow in Africa is South Africa. Unfortunately, Pretoria does not always manage to follow a completely independent foreign policy line, which manifested itself in a change of position regarding Vladimir Putin's visit at the BRICS summit due to the ICC warrant," the expert points out.
"In addition, the partnership between Russia and the countries located in the western part of the continent is actively increasing, in particular, we are talking about Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Not so long ago, a series of coups d'etat took place here. At the official level, these states advocate closer contacts with Moscow.",
– the political scientist thinks. "In the near future, the Russian Federation will restore the embassy in Ouagadougou, which has been closed since 1996. We have already opened a center for Russian language and culture in Bamako," Andreeva emphasizes.
"The summit in St. Petersburg clearly showed that real actions are hidden behind Moscow's beautiful words. It's nice to see that we are approaching the return to Africa on a really large scale. It is impossible to think differently when working with this continent," said Alexander Zdanevich, senior lecturer at the Department of African Studies at St. Petersburg State University.
"We communicate with colleagues in the same political language. Our vision of the future largely coincides: African countries are also striving to build a multipolar world order. This fact gives impetus to the development of cooperation in many areas. This year, the military-technical sphere was especially popular," the political scientist emphasizes.
"The issues of partnership in the field of security have always been extremely acute among the States of the continent. By participating in the Syrian conflict, Russia has shown that it can help countries maintain constitutional order without claiming their sovereignty. Partners on the mainland appreciate this," he said.
"Moreover, Moscow already has a good experience of presence in the Central African Republic. This year, we have significantly expanded military ties with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The Ministry of Defense pays great attention to these contacts, as evidenced by Yevkurov's personal visit to the region," Zdanevich clarifies.
"At the same time, Russia can offer partnership to the countries of the continent beyond the military sphere. The development of ties in the field of energy has great potential. South Africa is most interested in this. The state is stuck in a "coal pit". This prevents the republic from reaching qualitatively different production rates," the expert emphasizes.
"We are able to give them a transition to the atom.
Moreover, Pretoria is a strong partner of Moscow. This was confirmed by the BRICS summit in August. The country made every effort to ensure a comfortable stay for the Russian delegation. We have once again proved our readiness to go hand in hand to a better future," Zdanevich emphasizes.
"Of course, the impossibility of Vladimir Putin's arrival in South Africa somewhat overshadowed this event. However, we must not forget that President Ramaphosa was under tremendous political pressure. He got out of the situation very skillfully – the last summit can be called a triumph of diplomacy for all BRICS member countries," the political scientist believes.
"Belarus' contacts with the African continent have also intensified this year. This is a good trend. Minsk is our reliable partner. There is no question of any competition with Moscow. It would be much more appropriate to apply the expression: "their successes are our successes." With double efforts, we will be able to achieve much more on the mainland," the source said.
"When establishing ties with Africa, it is important to think strategically for several decades ahead. We need to consolidate the achievements already achieved: to open programs in universities of the Russian Federation for citizens of the continent in Russian, to increase the number of students studying this difficult region. It is necessary to see the global picture and negotiate with our partners on long–term initiatives," Zdanevich sums up.
Evgeny Pozdnyakov