From the opening of ten embassies to the intervention of special forces in Sudan and the establishment of several economic and military partnerships, Ukraine is trying to catch up with its Russian enemy on the African continent. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is becoming an important issue as Kyiv realizes that resistance to Russian invasion will be a long-term process.

"The continent's political influence is growing, with more than fifty countries now belonging to the United Nations. The African Union is a candidate for membership of the Security Council and is already a member of the G20," pointed out Maksym Soubkh, Ukraine's special representative for the Middle East and Africa. The catalyst for Ukraine's awakening was the March 2 vote at the UN General Assembly, where only 28 of the 54 African countries condemned the Russian invasion. It was a shocking moment.

"We had thought that the invasion of a sovereign territory and the Russian army's grave violations of international law would automatically put countries on our side. We underestimated how strong Russian influence was on the African continent," explained Alexander Khara, an international relations specialist at the Centre for Defence Strategies, a Kyiv-based think-tank. "To win the war, Ukraine needs to make its weight felt in the new centers of influence and growth in Africa," he stressed.

"Russia spends millions on spreading anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western propaganda and narratives in African countries," observed the diplomat Soubkh. "In addition to its embassies, Russia has an extensive network of information and propaganda agencies, local media funding and cultural influence throughout the continent, notably through Rossotrudnichestvo [a kind of Russian equivalent of the Alliances françaises]." At the end of July, Russia organized its second Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, where 45 of the 54 African countries sent delegations.

Ukrainian special forces in action in Sudan

In this context, Khara admitted to a certain "skepticism about Ukraine's ability to compete with Russia" on the continent. "Our financing capacities are out of all proportion. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not have the means to develop such a diplomatic network, nor as many media contacts."

Over the past three decades, Ukraine has maintained a network of embassies with North African countries, but only six with sub-Saharan Africa (Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Senegal), with which links are more tenuous. Of the ten embassies announced for this region, only three have yet been confirmed (Ghana, Rwanda and Mozambique). Although no name has been announced, an ambassador to Botswana has been appointed. The other six countries chosen would be Uganda, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Mauritania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. According to a diplomatic source, the latter country declined the Ukrainian offer "until the end of the war with Russia," due to "pressure from Moscow."

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