< p _ngcontent-sc181="" class="news-annotation">Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov constantly arranges a tour of the African continent. In particular, a henchman of Vladimir Putin recently visited Eritrea.

ThisChannel 24 was told by political scientist Andrey Vigirinsky. According to him, in the Ukrainian information space, everyone usually laughs at Lavrov's visits to African countries.

Like, this perfectly demonstrates the position of Russia in the international arena. After all, nowhere else are representatives of the aggressor country accepted. However, according to Vigirinsky, Lavrov's visits to Africa have a much deeper implication.

How Russia is using the Wagner PMC to influence Africa

The political scientist recalled that the United States recognized the Wagner private military company as a criminal organization. As Vigirinsky noted, the key to this issue was the activity of PMCs not in Ukraine, but in Africa. In particular, the Wagnerites are active in countries such as:

• Central African Republic (CAR);
• Burkina Faso, where a recent military coup took place;

< li>Mozambique;

• Namibia.

According to the political scientist, if the Wagnerites were in the CAR almost with the permission of the UN and advised the government of the new country on the organization of the armed forces, then in all other countries they advise and sell weapons to both the rebels and the government. That is, they support opposite camps.

“In fact, Russia, using the capabilities of its private military company, influences and forms the dependence of individual countries of the African continent on its military capabilities,” Vigirinsky noted .

Russia cannot compete with China in terms of economic influence

The political scientist explained that, in general, expansion can occur in several ways:

economic;

political;

military.

Vigirinsky noted that Russia cannot throw money at African countries the way China does.

China sells electrical equipment there, invests in infrastructure facilities, as Great Britain did at the end of the 19th century. Beijing lends to the economies of individual African countries and opens up the opportunity to buy commodities from them. In particular, we are talking about precious stones, – said the political scientist.

When credit dependence is formed, the loyalty of the country's government to the creditor arises. According to the political scientist, in fact, this means control over the country.

“Russia cannot enter this continent in the financial component. Therefore, it sells the power component,” Vigirinsky said.

Countries fight for Africa like they did 100 years ago

However, Moscow is also trying to promote economic projects. In particular, Egypt and Algeria have stated in 2022 that they want to join BRICS. Vigirinsky noted that Russia is interested in this, since it is itself a member of this group.

According to Vigirinsky, Western countries are also trying to influence the situation in Africa.

Africa is a continent that today, like 100 years ago, is being fought for as a point of growth and cheap raw materials and resources by countries that can be attributed to the G7 and their allies, as well as the BRICS countries plus their allies, the political scientist said.

What is BRICS

This is the largest group of developing countries in terms of area and population. This term is often used in economics. The group includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

What Russia gets from African countries

Russia, realizing that in economic terms the conditional division of Africa between the major players of the West and China takes place without it, offers African countries something different – the issue of security. African countries, which are weak in this regard, are happy to accept such assistance.

• Russia cooperates in the military sphere, first of all, with small countries.
• At the same time, with large – tries to promote certain economic projects. In particular, Rosatom promised to finance the construction of nuclear power plants in Egypt.

By expanding its influence in African countries, the aggressor state gains access to certain resources, which it then actively uses.

In the Central African Republic, Wagner PMC controlled gold mining companies and mines . Thanks to this, the Wagnerites can finance their activities on the territory of other countries, including in Ukraine,” said Vigirinsky.

The purpose of Sergey Lavrov's visits to Africa: briefly h2>

• Ivan Us, chief consultant of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, noted that African countries are the only states that can still help Russia with weapons.
• In addition, this is how the occupiers can publicly demonstrate that they have at least we have good relations with someone.
• Political scientist Nikolai Davidyuk emphasized that the visits of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to African countries have practically no content and benefit.
• Davidyuk believes that there is a lot of work for Ukraine in Africa, since there are about 50 countries where it is necessary to interrupt the “Lavrovism”.

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