Why Putin is Making Intense Moves on Africa

Russia’s reach to Africa aims to portray as an unencumbered great power that conducts business as usual despite Western sanctions Russia is the source of less than 1% of the foreign direct investment into Africa. Substantively, then, Russia brings little to the continent. But the fact that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is making a high-profile trip to Africa in the throes of Russia’s war on Ukraine reveals how much Russia needs Africa. A priority for Lavrov’s trip to Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia is to show that Russia is not isolated internationally, despite expansive Western…