Through Sochi-Africa Forum, Russian bear heads to African jungles with confident steps

Ahmed Adel

The president of the Central African Republic (RCA), Faustin-Archange Touadera, announced his country’s intention to host a Russian military base, the first in Africa.

“We are studying that possibility with our Department of Defense and the Ministry of Defense of Russia,” the president told Sputnik.

The president also praised Russia’s “gracious” arms deliveries to the Central African Republic (CAR) and Russian instructors’ assistance in training local servicemen.

According to him, around 3,000 CAR military officers have already followed their training.

Russia has stepped up its activities in Africa in recent years with military support, nuclear energy and other services in exchange for mining rights. Moscow donated hundreds of weapons and sent 175 trainers to CAR early in 2018 to bolster the government’s fight against militia groups.

“”We hope to raise living standards in our countries. It appears those are the questions, which we should answer together through strengthening cooperation between the African continent and Russia,” he said at the Russia-Africa summit on Thursday.

“We are confident that only an approach like that will enable us to cope with challenges our continent is facing. In this respect, I would like to welcome all efforts assumed by Russia supporting our states in multilateral and bilateral contacts.

“”Our meeting is targeted at expanding our fruitful cooperation in the future,” the president added.

On October 23-24, the resort city of Sochi hosted the Russia-Africa Summit, co-chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Representatives of all 54 African countries participated in it.

In view of the internal situation in Central Africa, we find that the country is suffering from a sectarian crisis between the movement of Séléka and Ant-Balaka, and the Central African Republic has been witnessing escalating violence recently. The death toll was about 37, and a church and refugee camp was set on fire in the west of the country.

Amira Abdelhalim, an expert on African affairs told The Reference in an interview that Russia is seeking to boost its influence in Africa, especially that the United States and China are paying special interests in the continent. She further pointed out that Russia seeks to end sectarian violence in the RCA.