Russia continues to strengthen its ties with Africa and, in particular, with the Sahel. Last week, Niger became the latest African country to sign a military cooperation agreement with Moscow. There are already more than 40 nations that receive training, advice and, above all, material from the Russian army or from one of the private companies in its shadow, such as Wagner. However, it is not just a question of security. Under the cover of mercenaries, helicopters or instructors, Russia also extends its soft power (soft power) across the Sahel by forging trade links and building key infrastructure. The latest examples are the gold refinery projects in Mali and the agreement to develop nuclear energy in this country and Burkina Faso.
Last week, Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine and Defense Minister General Salifu Modi met in Moscow with senior officials from the Russian Defense Ministry. Both sides agreed to strengthen security relations, as well as “intensify joint actions to stabilize the situation in the region,” according to a Kremlin statement. The objective, the note adds, is to “increase the combat readiness” of Niger’s military.
In this way, this Sahel country, governed by a military junta since the coup d’état last summer, follows the path taken by its neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, which, after expelling French troops from their territory, already have Russian instructors on the ground who help them in their war against the jihadism of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, the greatest threat in the region. In parallel, European defense cooperation missions, such as the EUTM in Mali or Gar-si Sahel, in which Spain has played a very relevant role, are currently at a standstill, on the verge of their complete disappearance.
Huge mineral reserves
However, Russian cooperation with the Sahel goes far beyond the military field. Two of the continent’s great challenges are to advance in the transformation of its enormous mineral reserves and the energy sector, which go hand in hand. More than half of Africa’s 1.4 billion people do not have access to electricity and it is impossible to think of industrialization without energy. Russia has stepped on the accelerator in both areas and offers a source it knows well, nuclear. The State Atomic Energy Company (Rosatom) has bilateral agreements with twenty African countries, including its star project: the construction of a nuclear power plant with four reactors west of Alexandria, in Egypt, 85% financed by Moscow.
In the context of the intensification of its relations with the Sahel countries, last October, during the VI Forum of the Russian Energy Week, Rosatom signed agreements with Burkina Faso and Mali that include the development of this technology in both countries. According to the company itself, “Russia is actively developing cooperation with foreign countries. Despite external restrictions, the national economy is increasing its export potential, supplying goods, services and raw materials around the world. Rosatom and its divisions actively participate in this work.”
In Mali, furthermore, Russia has also reached an agreement with the military authorities for the construction of the largest gold refinery in West Africa, with the capacity to produce about 200 tons each year, according to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Alousséni Sanou. “This will allow us to not only control all gold production, but we will also be able to correctly apply all taxes and duties,” Sanou said. In 2022, Mali produced about 72 tons of gold, of which six come from artisanal extraction and the rest from foreign companies, especially Canadian, Australian and British. The precious metal represents 25% of the national budget, 75% of export income and 10% of the gross domestic product, according to the Malian Government, which has just reformed the Mining Code.
Russia’s return to Africa, after the era of splendor of the Soviet Union, began in the mid-2000s, but the definitive boost came after the invasion of Crimea by Russian troops in 2014 and it is experiencing its glorious moment in 2019 with the first Russia-Africa summit, held in Sochi. With this strategy, Moscow seeks to break the isolation to which the Western bloc intends to subject it and gain access to markets and natural resources. Although the privileged regions of this cooperation are the Maghreb and the southern countries, in recent years its influence has spread to practically every corner, with the Sahel as the spearhead of a strategy that benefits from or stimulates the decline of western presence.
The second Africa-Russia summit, which was held in Saint Petersburg in 2023 with the presence of around twenty African heads of state and President Vladimir Putin himself, reinforced this trend. The trade volume, certainly even far from China, India or the European Union, has practically doubled in the last decade, according to the Center for Strategic and Studies. The grain diplomacy launched by Russia in the current conflict in Ukraine shows the depth of the ties: Moscow is already sending wheat without return to six African countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic (where Wagner plays a decisive role), Zimbabwe, Somalia and Eritrea.
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