Since 2015, Russia has increased its diplomatic, military and economic interests in the African continent, taking advantage of the seemingly declining U.S interest in the continent under President Donald Trump’s administration. Moscow has sought to revive relationships forged during the Cold War, when it poured funds and weapons into Africa in rivalry with the U.S and has worked to cultivate new ties such as relations with South Africa among other African countries. It is also worth noting that the current leadership in the United States is no longer reliable so if Russia positions itself as a more reliable ally then it will be irresistible to many African leaders who are looking for unconditional loans and weapons to tighten their grip on to power. Africa as a continent has not been on Russia’s foreign policy agenda for a long time but this sudden change her foreign policy and particularly her growing interest in Africa leaves many questions but for the purpose of this article, my focus is on how this renewed interest is likely to affect the already poor state of democracy on the continent.
Details from the Sochi Summit show that most African leaders are interested in military assistance in terms of training and weaponry. A report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), indicates that Russia is Africa’s leading supplier of arms (35%), ahead of China (17%), the United States (9.6%) and France (6.9%). This raises red flags for democracy and the protection of human rights on the continent, in many African countries, leaders are bent on preserving themselves in power and they have gone as far as using the coercive forces of the state to oppress those from the opposition.
Training African states militaries wouldn’t be the problem but given the rising brutality of the military on the citizens. Equipping them with more convert skills is likely to increase their brutality on the citizens. Given the current state of affairs on the continent, there are more intra-state conflicts than inter-state conflicts. This therefore, implies that there is no urgent need to stock up on military equipment. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been quoted pledging that Moscow will help African countries raise their profile in the international arena, including potential permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council, something African nations have sought for years. “We are continuously upholding the role of Africa as one of the leading centers of the evolving multi-polar world” Lavrov said. With such promises, many African leaders are being told the words they would love to hear and it’s going to be hard to resist this new kid on the block, the same way it has been hard to resist the growing influence of China through its strategy of debt diplomacy.
This new state of affairs can be referred to as the new scramble for Africa, with western powers (America and her allies) on one side and communist powers (Russia and China) on the other side. And because both Russia and China are in for the natural resources (economic interests), just like their counterparts have been since colonial times, the question of whether Russian and Chinese strategic interests on the continent are likely to crash, is one that cannot be answered now. The two great powers seem to share a lot in common, when it comes to how they exercise their veto powers in the United Nations Security Council for example, they have always vetoed the collective use of force under the UN principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), upholding the principle of non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states. In the past, Russia has been accused of meddling in the 2016 United States general elections, the UK 2016 Brexit referendum and attempting to meddle in France’s 2017 general elections. Conducting periodic free and fair elections is among of the tenets of democracy and yet this remains a big challenge for many African countries. Back in Kremlin, Putin is known for suppressing opposition through detentions, smear campaigns and assassinations.
These actions have been part of Africa’s political reality since the continent became free from colonial rule but with Russia involved, the situation is likely to worsen. There is a dark cloud on the horizon for the state of democracy on the African continent with Russia hell-bent on keeping military leaders in power for as long as they dance to its tunes even at the expense of individual and collective freedoms and rights of the people of Africa. The case has not been different with other major global powers like the U.S, France or China in their pursuit for political and economic interests in Africa. The responsibility therefore, lies with the African states to utilize the opportunities that Russia’s presence presents while guarding the principles of democracy against abuse.
Djibuti is the most important place with small area and low population, insufficient resources, but has great strategic importance and precedence. It has been the most stable state compared to its neighbors dealing with terrorism and piracy threats in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab strait and Gulf of Aden, as well as conflicts in Yemen and Somalia. Djibouti’s strategic significance also derives from the fact that it is the key, and sometimes the only, port for land-locked African countries, such as Ethiopia and South Sudan. Also, Ethiopia-Eritrea war increased the strategic significance of Djibouti. Though before the war United States had a hope to cultivate more cooperation with Ethiopia and Eritrea than Djibouti, the war disturbed the situation. So, United States took Djibouti as an important ally due to the increasing of terrorist threats in the Horn of Africa (Woodward, 2006) In addition to French and American presence, Germany, as well as Japan is maintaining presence in Djibouti. While China has strategic interests in the region, it appears more concentrated on investment (Aluwaisheg 2015, para.10). It also helps that China has just built a railroad between the port of Djibouti and the Addis Ababa, meaning that Russia could clearly use this ‘African Silk Road’ to boost its own economic relations with the region and create strategic depth to its non-Western economic diversification mission (Korybko 2015). On the other hand, that Russians have tried but failed to convince Djibouti to establish a base, but ‘African Intelligence’ asserted that China offered Russia to allow the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov land at its base, so that it could deploy its vessel to Syria at short notice during the summer. It was a great challenge from new rising powers to US and western club in the region.
Fituni, L Abramova, I 2010, ‘Resource Potential of Africa and Russia’s National Interests in the XXI Century’, the Scientific Council of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Govella, K Aggarwal, VK 2011, ‘Introduction: The Fall of the Soviet Union and the Resurgence of Russia’, in Aggarwal, VK Govella, K (eds), Responding to a Resurgent Russia: Russian Policy and Responses from the European Union and the United States, Springer, New York.