Russia – Africa Forum opening a new era of internationalism and sovereignty
There is a sense of soviet-era revival in the air as Russia eagerly strengthens bonds with African nations carefully making sure that it’s moves aren’t seen in any neo-colonial way, an accusation Western European nations and the US are often confronted with.
But, Russia is also not a naive player anymore when it comes to it’s Africa policy. It is clear that China, India and Russia, as much as they claim to stand for the new BRICS-world order opposing the western “NWO” of the US’s neocons and the World Economic Forum (WEF), are also rivals and not always good partners. In Africa, nowadays also the US are increasing their engagement recently, especially in South Africa that always had one foot in the American pitch and one in the BRICS which made it impossible to guarantee Russian President Putin’s safety for the summit to be held in August in Cape Town. South Africa would be obliged as a signatory to the Statute of Rome to extradite the Russian leader under an International Criminal Court warrant to The Hague. The idea to move the summit to either Russia as an expression of solidarity or to China didn’t win any backing.
Russia also follows it’s own interests, of course, like everyone else. China is being accused of plundering the resources already for almost two decades while in exchange building major infrastructure projects, roads, railways, ports, housing projects, all secured by private army soldiers.
Now, here is where Russia has to be wary not to get into a trap: during Soviet times the emphasis lay on Giving rather than Engaging, today, Russia is eager to Engage more and apart from some fertilizers it so far is not giving much, but also deployed it’s private army, the infamously brutal “Wagner PMC” which already got involved in a dubious way in the conflict in the Central African Republic where it was found standing on the “wrong” side stabilizing the regime of CAR’s president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who is actually only controlling little more than the capital city Bangui at the moment while 80% of the population are said to be against him. The Russian private military ambushed rebel groups that were marching towards the capital. It became an issue of international investigation at the UN security council level that the Wagner-troops were deployed specifically in regions of diamond mines thus tainting the image of Russia as an honest mediator further.
And, also the role the Russian private military company is playing in Mali is seen as counterproductive to President Putin’s vow to establish ties with African leaders on equal level in order to engage in humanitarian, social and mutually beneficial economic cooperation. Today’s second Russia-Africa Forum may open a new chapter for both sides if engagement is meant in a fair way and not a replacement of old colonial structures with new ones. Russian bullets are not more welcome than Western European and US-American ones in Africa.
60 years after most African nations fought for independence, the reality had proven to be a neo-colonial scenario that culminated in a very unfair “European Partnership Agreement (EPA)” as well as a migration-driven brain-drain in order to win cheap labor forces for the EU. Now, it is time for African nations to become fully sovereign and be treated on equal level.
Russia, with it’s expertise in exploring and managing resources, can play a major role in Africa, but it has to be careful, because of a lack of experience when it comes to African politics, not to be seen in meddling in brotherly fights like in Central African Republic or Mali, as it’s reputation can be at stake.
By Ralph T. Niemeyer, Sankt Petersburg