Analysis: Foreign minister seeks to win friends and influence people in countries where closeness can be traced back to USSR
But Moscow’s efforts to win friends and influence people across Africa go back well beyond recent events. The results of this campaign have been patchy, and Russia remains a marginal player by most conventional benchmarks, such as trade and investment.
In several important strategic states, Moscow has made a significant impact, reinforcing anti-western narratives, supporting friendly political leaders and extracting valuable resources that have helped Russia resist the western sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine. Another key location is Central Africa Republic, where more than 1,000 Wagner mercenaries have mounted a series of bloody offensives against rebels on behalf of a weak central government in return for mining concessions. In recent months, according to witnesses, Russian military contractorsin the east of the country apparently aimed solely at looting quantities of gold.