Perceptions of Russia’s ‘return’ to Africa: Views from West Africa

ABSTRACT

The article focuses on the perception of Russia’s ‘return’ to Africa through an analysis of field research data from three African states: Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, gathered in late 2021. In this article, the authors argue that the Russian ‘return’ to Africa, which is primarily seen in the provision of security services through the presence of Russian private military companies (PMCs), is perceived positively in West Africa. An important role is played in these perceptions by the Soviet legacy on the continent, which is remembered positively among Africans. Perceptions among the youths surveyed appear significantly influenced by the crisis in relations between West African countries and France, as well as the experience of Russian involvement in the field of securitisation since 2014. The net effect is that Russian engagement in West Africa, and specifically by PMCs, is welcome.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• Russian foreign policy
• private military companies
• Sahel
• armed conflicts

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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26 P. Bax, ‘Russia’s Influence in the Central African Republic,’ International Crisis Group, 2021. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/central-african-republic/russias-influence-central-african-republic (accessed July 22, 2022).

27 R. Parens, ‘The Wagner Group's Playbook in Africa: Mali,’ Foreign Policy Research Institute, 2022. https://www.fpri.org/article/2022/03/the-wagner-groups-playbook-in-africa-mali/ (accessed July 22, 2022).

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29 D. Travin, Will the Putin System Exist by 2024? (St. Petersburg: Norma, 2016) (In Russ.).

30 Travin, Will the Putin System Exist by 2024?

31 L. Issaev and A. Shishkina, ‘Russia in the Middle East: In Search of Its Place,’ in Political Narratives in the Middle East and North Africa: Conceptions of Order and Perceptions of Instability, ed. W. Muhlberger and T. Alaranta (Dordrecht: Springer, 2020), 95–114.

32 In Syria, Russia was able to visually demonstrate its readiness and ability to protect a friendly regime. This was again in contrast with the approach of the West, seen in the reluctance of the United States to support the friendly regimes of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt or Ben Ali in Tunisia in 2011 (Reuters, Israel Shocked by Obama's ‘Betrayal’ of Mubarak, 2011. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-israel-usa-idUSTRE70U53720110131 (accessed November 17, 2021)).

33 TASS, President Burkina-Faso priglasil Putina prinjat’ uchastije vo vstreche sahelskoj pjatjorki [Burkina Faso President Invited Putin to Take Part in the Meeting of the G5 Sahel], 2019. https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/7039208 (accessed November 7, 2021) (In Russ.).

34 TASS, President Mavritanii: Rossija I Afrika dolzhny protivostojat’ vmeshatelstvu v dela gosudarstv [President of Mauritania: Russia and Africa must Resist Interference in the Affairs of States], 2019. https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/7040556 (accessed November 17, 2021) (In Russ.).

35 G. Caffiero, ‘Sudan: A key Area in US-Russia Competition,’ The Middle East Institute. https://www.mei.edu/publications/sudan-key-area-us-russia-competition (accessed November 17, 2021).

36 RIA Novosti, Sergej Vershinin: stiuatsija v Sirii stabilna no vzryvoopasna [Sergey Vershinin: the Situation in Syria is Stable but Explosive], 2021. https://ria.ru/20210104/vershinin-1591914473.html (accessed November 17, 2021) (In Russ.).

37 D. Walsh, ‘After Coup in Burkina Faso, Protesters Turn to Russia for Help,’ The New York Times, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/25/world/africa/burkina-faso-coup-russians.html (accessed October 14, 2022).

38 L. Maślanka, ‘France and the Russian Presence in Africa,’ The Polish Institute of International Affairs, 2020. https://pism.pl/publications/France_and_the_Russian_Presence_in_Africa (accessed November 17, 2021).

39 Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, ‘Heads of Military Departments of Russia and Chad Signed Military Cooperation Agreement at the Army 2017 Forum,’ 2017. https://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12139347@egNews; Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, ‘Russia and Mali Sign an Agreement on Military Cooperation,’ 2019. https://eng.mil.ru/en/management/info/news/more.htm?id=12238363@egNews&g=newsPhoto; CGTN, ‘Russia Signs Deal to Supply Niger with 12 Military Helicopters,’ 2019. https://newsaf.cgtn.com/news/2019-10-24/Russia-signs-deal-to-supply-Niger-with-12-military-helicopters-L2afxdL89W/index.html; Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, ‘Russia and Mauritania Signing an Agreement on Military Cooperation,’ 2021. https://eng.mil.ru/en/mcis/news/more.htm?id=12368342@egNews.

40 See statistics posted on the website of this organization: http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php.

41 Korendyasov, ‘Russian-African Relations at a New Start’.

42 Catrina Doxsee, ‘Putin’s Proxies: Examining Russia’s Use of Private Military Companies,’ September 21, 2022, Centre for Strategic and International Studies. https://www.csis.org/analysis/putins-proxies-examining-russias-use-private-military-companies (accessed October 13, 2022).

43 TASS, Putin: Rossija budet podderzhivat’ usilija rukovodstva TSAR po stabilizatsii situatsii v strane [Putin: Russia will Support the Efforts of the CAR Leadership to Stabilize the Situation in the Country], 2019. https://tass.ru/politika/7035427 (accessed November 17, 2021) (In Russ.).

44 TASS, Putin: Rossija budet podderzhivat’ usilija rukovodstva TSAR.

45 L. Issaev, A. Korotayev, and D. Bobarykina, ‘The Global Terrorist Threat in the Sahel and the Origins of Terrorism in Burkina Faso,’ Peoples' Friendship University of Russia Bulletin of International Relations 22, no. 2 (2022): 411–21.

46 D. Walsh, ‘After Coup in Burkina Faso, Protesters Turn to Russia for Help,’ The New York Times, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/25/world/africa/burkina-faso-coup-russians.html (accessed October 14, 2022).

47 The basis was a questionnaire that was used by the research team of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Dmitry Bondarenko in the framework of the project ‘The image of modern Russia in African countries: formation and features’ in 2006–2008.

48 In this regard, it is interesting to mention a previous survey by a group of scientists from the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences headed by Professor Dmitry Bondarenko. This survey was a result of field research in African countries from 2006 till 2008 which among other aspects revealed image of the Soviet Union and Russia in Africa. The research was based on panel data on 44 African countries. According to it in the mid-2000s, while 47% of respondents positively assessed the role of the USSR, only 32% gave a positive assessment of the role of Russia. (See, eg, D. Bondarenko, ‘Africa: “Soviet Heritage” in the Image of Russia,’ Asia and Africa Today 7, (2007): 37–43; D. Bondarenko, ‘The Soviet Union and Modern Russia: Continuity of Images in the Consciousness of Africans,’ New Russian Humanitarian Studies, 2 (2007)).

49 Interview with the Member of the Alternative Civil Platform in Niger, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

50 Interview with the Member of the Burkinabe National Assembly, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

51 Interview with the Member of the Alternative Civil Platform in Niger, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

52 Interview with Burkinabe Politician, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

53 Interview with Nigerien Politician, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

54 Interview with Malian Politician, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

55 Issaev and Shishkina, Russia in the Middle East.

56 Interview with the Member of National Transitional Council of Mai, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

57 Interview with the Representative of the Arab-African Cultural Institute, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

58 Interview with Member of the Burkinabe National Assembly, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

59 Africa Times, ‘Lavrov Defends Russia’s Role in Sahel, Confirms Wagner Plans,’ 2021. https://africatimes.com/2021/09/26/lavrov-defends-russias-role-in-sahel-confirms-wagner-plans/.

60 ‘Putin: What Matters Now is Stability, Not Change of Power, Kommersant,’ 2020. https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4282507 (in Russ.).

61 Interview with Malian Independent Expert, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

62 Interview with the professor of Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

63 Interview with the professor of Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, interview by Leonid Issaev, October 2021.

64 Ian Taylor and Tim Zajontz, ‘In a Fix: Africa’s Place in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Reproduction of Dependency,’ South African Journal of International Affairs 27, no. 3 (September 2020): 277–95.

65 Larry Hanauer and Lyle J. Morris, ‘China in Africa: Implications of a Deepening Relationship,’ RAND, 2014. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9760.html (accessed October 13, 2022).

66 A. Korotaev, Ya. Liokumovich, and A. Khokhlova, ‘Revolutionary events in Mali (1960-2021),’ in System Monitoring and Risk Accounting. Revolutionary Processes in the Afroasian Macrozone of Instability and Their Global Context, ed., L. Grinin, A. Korotayev, and D. Bykanova, Vol. 12 (2021): 329–70.

67 V. Filippov, ‘African Policy of Emmanuel Macron,’ Journal of the Institute for African Studies 1 (2022): 31–48 (in Russ.).

68 A. Medushevsky and A. Shishkina, ‘Modern French Policy on the African Continent: Transformations of a Françafrique Model,’ Journal of Asian and African Studies 6 (2022): 1141–57.

Additional information

Funding

This study was conducted within the framework of the HSE University Program of Fundamental Research in 2022 with the support of the Russian Science Foundation [grant number 21-18-00123].

Notes on contributors

Leonid Issaev

Leonid Issaev (PhD in Political Science) is Associate Professor and Vice-head of the Laboratory for Sociopolitical Destabilization Risks Monitoring at HSE University in Moscow, Russia. He is also Research Fellow at the Institute for African Studies, which is a part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His research interests include Africa and Middle East, political regimes, revolutions and Russian foreign policy.

Alisa Shishkina

Alisa Shishkina (PhD, Political Science) is a Senior Research Fellow of the Laboratory for Sociopolitical Destabilization Risk Monitoring at HSE University in Moscow, Russia. She is also Research Fellow at the Institute for African Studies, which is part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Her current research focuses on relations between Russia and African countries in a global context.

Yakov Liokumovich

Yakov Liokumovich has graduated from the Department for Asia and African Studies of HSE University in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He earned his MA from the Oriental Faculty of Saint Petersburg State University. Now Iakov is an intern fellow at the Faculty for Social Sciences of HSE University in Moscow, Russia.