Inside the effort to market Russia and Putin to Africans

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1. **Submission statement**: This piece explores Russia’s efforts to deepen its influence in African countries like Burkina Faso through the African Initiative.

   The African Initiative is a pro-Russian group aimed at promoting Russia’s interests in the region. By tapping into anti-colonial sentiment, the initiative weaves pan-Africanist and pro-Russian narratives to target audiences skeptical of Western powers.

   Through focused media outreach, it aims to present Russia as a more reliable alternative to the West.

   Africa has grown in importance to Russia due to its increasing isolation and dwindling resources as a result of the war in Ukraine.

2. I literally just watched a YouTube video last night that magically popped up on my Home Screen. Some supposed African academic talking about African countries turning to BRICS as an alternative to the US. Halfway through he tries to say that the war in Ukraine is actually a war against the west, and that many African countries sympathize with that due to colonialism. That’s when I knew the whole thing was propaganda. The fact that Russia is just trying to steal land from a peaceful nation-and is therefore colonialism flew right over his head.

   https://youtu.be/uq22GiO7U0c?si=G_8T1wuG5n8xQ5QU

3. Many African countries have long memories of colonialism from Western countries, and the USSR was a big ally for their anti-colonial stances. Of course it was for their own interest in the Cold War but many African countries stand to gain from getting support from the USSR. It’s only natural that most have warm feelings to Russia as they believe they’re the successors of the Soviet Union and not a kleptocratic dictatorship that’s literately in a war of conquest.

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