By Arezki Daoud:
Has the war in Ukraine deter Russia from engagement in Africa? Certainly not! We know on the security front, a growing number of African states are turning to Russia to supply them with military equipment and security services, judging by the presence of official and non-government outfits like the Wagner Group. Things are evolving very rapidly on that front in 2023 and weapons sales to Africa are likely to further increase this year, despite Russia needing all the military hardware it can procure to execute its war on Ukraine. But many analysts have dismissed Russia as an economic partner for Africa. Perhaps that’s not necessarily true.
If you believe the data from the Russian Federal Customs Service, business between Russia and Africa is booming. The agency said in 2023, Russia and Africa increased their trade by more than 50% over the previous year, to reach 22.8 billion dollars, and that does not include the month of December. The figure is up from $15.7 billion. Russian exports to African countries rose by 54.1%, to settle at U$19.8 billion. Russian imports from Africa increased by $7.5 billion dollars year over year.
Of course there is no independent body to check the veracity of this kind of data. But if the statistics are somewhat correct, the myth of Russia focusing only on military commerce may not be true after all.
