The American National Interest reported that Russia is looking to establish 6 military bases in Africa, and that it sees that continent as a top military priority for it, and that part of this aspiration was military cooperation with some of the most dictatorial regimes on the continent.
An article by the American writer on the site, Peter Socio, attributed that a confidential report by the German Foreign Ministry entitled "Russia's New African Ambitions" was leaked and published by German media last week, and it was mentioned that Russia, since the beginning of this century, has become one of the powers that seek to expand its presence in Africa with military bases. .
The writer says that, since 2015, Russia has concluded military cooperation agreements with 21 African countries, and has publicly sought permission to establish military bases in 6 countries, including Egypt, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mozambique and Sudan.
And before these agreements with those countries, Russia had agreements with only 4 countries in Africa, and this included official - and also secret - training of military forces.
Socio drew attention to the fact that even before the so-called "Scramble for Africa" in the late 19th century, many European powers had a firm presence in this continent, but after the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885, it was divided and a large part of it was conquered and controlled.
Throughout the Cold War and into the modern era, Russia was a major supplier of weapons to the African continent.
Russian training and programs
The German report stated that Russia does not only send officers to those countries for training, but invites their soldiers to train in facilities in Russia, and it also runs training programs through private security contractors, such as the Russian Wagner company, which was previously denied by Moscow.
Russia is currently the largest supplier of weapons to Africa with 37.6% of the market share, followed by the United States with 16%, France 14% and China 9%.
The author described this expansion in Africa by Russia as a worrying trend for America and the West, especially since China also has a presence in Africa. In particular, Beijing has a naval base in Djibouti in the strategic "Horn of Africa" region at the Bab al-Mandab strait.
However, even if Russia had built 6 bases, it would still lag far behind the size of the US military presence on the continent, which, according to the 2018 report, includes a vast network of at least 34 military bases spread across Africa with a high concentration in the North, West and Century. African.