Despite the sanctions imposed by the West due to the war in Ukraine and Moscow’s need to supply war materiel to a large extent to the Ukrainian front, Russian arms suppliers continue to have a strong position in Africa, according to Agatha Verdebout, a researcher at the Group for Research and Information on Peace and Security (GRIP), based in Leuven, told RFI.
This follows from a report carried out by the Belgian Center between 2017 and 2021. According to the authors of the report, 44% of arms imports in Africa came from Russia, compared to 17% from the United States, 10% from China, and 6% from France.
Verdebout attributes this trend to Russia’s outward opening with Putin’s coming to power and his desire to restore Russia’s influence as a world power. This implied reactivating arms exports for the Russian president.
In this context, the African market was presented as an opportunity since it was not so exploited or investigated by European countries. In addition, European restrictions on human rights in countries where arms are sold were stricter compared to Russia, which has fewer restrictions in this regard.
Russia used tactics that went beyond arms sales to reposition itself in the African market. There was a reactivation of economic and cultural cooperation, and numerous sovereign debts of African countries were cancelled. Putin even canceled debts dating back to the Soviet era with the aim of encouraging African countries to buy Russian products instead of American or French ones, for example.
As for Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, Verdebout notes that they have had a limited impact on Russian exports. The main objective of the sanctions is not to affect exports but rather to impact arms production in Russia to prevent weapons from being sent to the Ukrainian front. However, Russia has managed to maintain an adequate supply for its defense industry by adjusting its weapons and dispensing with highly technological or complex components.
The researcher highlights the adaptability of the Russian arms industry in the face of sanctions, underscoring its ability to reduce the technological needs of its weapons. In other words, they can modify their weapons to do without highly complex components.