Le continent de Moscou : Les principes de l’engagement de la Russie dans la politique africaine

The document analyzes Russia's strategic pivot toward Africa as a means to diversify partners and evade Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine. It argues that while Africa is not a central priority for the Kremlin, it serves as a critical 'theater' for projecting power, securing natural resources, and challenging US-led unipolarity. The paper details Russia's approach across several sectors, including arms sales, nuclear energy, and mining, while highlighting the role of the Wagner Group in providing security in exchange for resource access. It concludes that Russia leverages African support at the UN to maintain its status as a global power and to promote a multipolar international system.

• Russia's engagement in Africa is structured around three primary themes: the pursuit of alternative economic partnerships, the search for geopolitical influence, and the promotion of multipolarity.
• Despite increasing efforts, Russia's trade volume with Africa remains small compared to other global powers; in 2021, trade between Russia and Africa was estimated at just over $17 billion, whereas trade with China exceeded $190 billion and trade with the EU exceeded $333 billion.
• The Russian policy-making process is described as 'top-down,' where the Kremlin sets the general tone, but implementation is carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, state-owned companies, oligarchs, and informal actors like the Wagner Group.
• Russia utilizes Africa as a tool to bypass Western sanctions by accessing resources like gold from Sudan and diamonds from the Central African Republic, which are harder to freeze than financial assets.
• Russia is a dominant supplier of military equipment to Africa, providing approximately 44% of the continent's imported military equipment between 2017 and 2021, benefiting from a lack of human rights conditions on sales.
• In the energy sector, Russia's state company Rosatom is building Egypt's first nuclear power plant in El-Dabaa, a project that creates long-term dependence on Russian expertise and materials.
• Russia seeks to secure critical minerals for the green economy transition, such as bauxite in Guinea via Rusal and diamonds and copper in Angola via Alrosa.
• The Wagner Group acts as a flexible instrument for the Kremlin, providing security to regimes in the Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) and other regions in exchange for concessions to natural resources.
• Russia aims to project naval power into the Indian Ocean by attempting to establish port access in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, specifically targeting Sudan and Djibouti.
• Russia promotes a 'multipolar' world order to appeal to African nations' anti-colonial sentiments and their desire for non-alignment, using this to block US-led initiatives at the UN.

APA

VUKSANOVIĆ, V. (2024). Le continent de Moscou : Les principes de l’engagement de la Russie dans la politique africaine. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SAIIA_OP_355_leContinentMoscou.pdf

Chicago

VUKSANOVIĆ, VUK. Le continent de Moscou : Les principes de l’engagement de la Russie dans la politique africaine. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2024. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SAIIA_OP_355_leContinentMoscou.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=VUKSANOVIĆ |first1=VUK |title=Le continent de Moscou : Les principes de l’engagement de la Russie dans la politique africaine |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=March 2024 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SAIIA_OP_355_leContinentMoscou.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vuksanovi2024continent, author = {VUKSANOVIĆ, VUK}, title = {{Le continent de Moscou : Les principes de l’engagement de la Russie dans la politique africaine}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SAIIA_OP_355_leContinentMoscou.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }