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21 century m'zuŋ u ‘neo-colonialism’
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Control through Dependency
Russia, once perceived as a super-power, now shoved to one side, pride offended,
can be expected to push its way into anywhere it can. Evoking a Russian form of MAGA,
MARA (Make Russia Great Again) may be seen as a way to keep that country’s leaders in
power. And Russia, through its PMCs (Private Military Companies) has a well-established
operation aimed at self-enrichment.
Russian politics, driven as it is by oligarchic puppet-masters, will interfere in Africa.
They are likely to only really achieve 'success' in Africa's fragile states. Russian oligarchs
do and will pose a real threat to the political stability in some regions of Africa. As research
shows, that instability, particularly in Africa's 16 LLDC (Landlocked Developing Countries)
has the potential to adversely affect a number of neighbouring countries. To create
regional instability.
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What does Russia really want from Africa?
The truth is that, since the 2000s, there has been a noticeable re-awakening of Russia's
interest in Africa. Indeed, between 2005 and 2015, Africa's trade with Russia grew by 185
percent, and Russia has several reasons to engage Africa more intensely.
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In supporting African countries-who, notably, constitute the largest voting bloc in the
United Nations-Russia is cultivating allies in its challenge to the current United States
and Euro-Atlantic-dominated security order.
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Russia-just like other major world powers-also covets many of Africa's raw materials and
is creating joint projects and investments in order to access them.
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In recent years, Russia had become the largest supplier of arms to Africa, accounting for
35 percent of arms exports to the region, followed by China (17 percent), the United
States (9.6 percent), and France (6.9 percent). Since 2015, Russia has signed over 20
bilateral military cooperation agreements with African states.
"What Does Russia Really Want from Africa?" 213
Adibe, Jideofor. Brookings (blog), (November 2019)
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