As part of its foreign policy, Russian authorities have strengthened military-technical cooperation, which includes officer training, the sale of arms and military equipment (although often coming up short on publicly available details), with a number of African countries. Besides Africa, Russia has also intensified cooperation, gaining a stronghold in Asia and Latin America.

Dr Scott Firsing, a visiting Bradlow fellow at the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA) and a Senior Lecturer in International Studies at Monash University in Johannesburg, notes that many African countries purchased equipment from Russia. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported in December 2011 that Russia accounted for 11% of the volume of major arms supplied to sub-Saharan Africa.

For Russia, the arms sales business is a lucrative one. African buyers prefer weapons from Russia due to their reliability and cost. Russia is the world's second largest arms exporter after the United States, but like the US, this does not mean Russia ignores developmental issues. Dr Firsing points out that Moscow wrote off debt of over $20 billion to several African countries in October of last year. Russia allocated $43 million to the World Bank during the last four years, mostly for educational purposes.

"In the past, during the Soviet era, the Soviet Union pursued this military policy against the western domination in Africa. Russia has revived their contacts with their African comrades that used to be the traditional buyers of Soviet weaponry. It is a similar policy, in the sense that they are again using military diplomacy to gain stature and influence in certain countries," Dr Firsing said.

Written by Kester Kenn Klomegah, a former editorial staff of The Moscow Times. He contributes articles to Inter Press Service (IPS) and is a keen foreign policy observer and an independent researcher on China's and Russia's policy in Africa. In 2004 and 2009, he won the Golden Word Prize for a series of analytical articles highlighting Russia's economic cooperation with African countries.

First published on the South African Foreign Policy Initiative website