Moscow’s Continent
In recent years, Moscow’s foreign policy has displayed increased interest in Africa, given its
sizeable population and the economic growth of countries on the continent.
This paper reflects on the increased importance of Africa to Russia’s global interests. It explores the
critical drivers of Africa’s role within Russian foreign policy and argues that Russian foreign
policy in Africa revolves around three themes: pursuing alternative economic partnerships,
seeking geopolitical leverage and promoting multipolarity.
Moscow has historical credentials as a great power in Africa, and the fact that it has no
colonial past on the continent helps its foreign policy. It is important to note, however, that
even before the European scramble for Africa in the 19th century, Russia had attempted
to colonize parts of it, as exemplified by the failed deployment of an explorer group to
Madagascar in 1723. Imperial Russia made another attempt to establish a colony in Africa
in late 1888, when Russian adventurer Nikolai Ivanovitch Achinov led a Cossack expedition
and established a settlement in the village of Sagallo in present-day Djibouti. This colony
lasted less than a month as the French dispatched warships in 1889, putting an end to the
settlement after a brief fight