Russia flexes muscles in Africa
2008-09-03 07:15
Rabat - Russia is reviving an interest in Africa that collapsed with the Cold War and its growing appetite for deals in African oil and gas is an added cause of unease in energy-hungry Western Europe.
Russian firms say the goal is to diversify energy interests
and secure raw materials for a fast-growing economy, but the
companies are also seen as tools of an increasingly assertive Kremlin foreign policy.
Africa is already an important alternative energy source for
European countries reliant on Russia.
The fact that Russian firms have made little dramatic
progress in Africa has not assuaged Western concerns,
particularly since Russia's intervention in Georgia raised new
questions over energy supplies from the east.
"Quietly, but with rising amounts of panic, we're hearing
officials from major European governments complain about what
the Russians are doing," said Jon Marks, editorial director of
industry newsletter Africa Energy.
Russia's African push goes beyond traditional allies that it
supplied with weapons and money during the Cold War.
One of its biggest trading partners in Africa is staunch
US ally Morocco, which supplies it with mineral phosphates consumed in large quantities by Russian farms.
Big spending
But Russia showed it wanted to keep strong ties with former ally and Moroccan rival Algeria in 2006 when it agreed to write off $4.7bn on Cold War era debt in exchange for a deal to
sell Algeria combat jets, submarines, warships and missiles.
Russian firms, like counterparts from Asia and other Asian
countries, are spending billions of dollars for better access to
the mineral wealth of countries across the continent.
Such interest in Africa is particularly welcome to those
governments that baulk at conditions on democracy, human rights
and reform that can be attached to dealings with Americans or
Europeans.
Russia's recent willingness to stand up to the West using
raw military power also makes it a more attractive partner for
African leaders tired of being bossed around by the world's only
superpower, analysts say.
"Given Africa's increasingly recognised geopolitical
significance ... American policymakers and analysts would do
well to be wary of the Russian bear's return" to Africa, said J.
Peter Pham, an Africa and Middle East expert at James Madison
University in Virginia.
The big concern in Western Europe is that Russia's tentative
deals with African OPEC members are an attempt to get a
stranglehold on Europe's natural gas supplies. Russia's Gazprom, which already provides a quarter of Europe's gas, agreed with Algeria's oil company Sonatrach to seek out and commercialize natural gas together after a visit to Algiers by former Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.
Sonatrach is the European Union's third-biggest supplier of
gas.
A deadline for a Russian gas exploration deal with Nigeria
passed in May, but Gazprom said in April it was in talks to take
part in a multi-billion dollar project to pipe Nigerian gas to
Europe across the Sahara.
Gazprom said in July it could build a pipeline to pump
Libyan gas to Europe. Libya has also agreed to sell some of its
oil and gas to Russia.
Distinct strategy
"There is a distinct strategy here. Gazprom doesn't
necessarily get a controlling stake but the Russians are getting a place at the table," said Marks of Africa Energy.
Elsewhere in Africa, Russian oil major Lukoil plans to
explore for hydrocarbons in Ghana and Ivory Coast while
Sintezneftegaz has acquired oil exploration rights off Namibia.
Interest in Africa goes well beyond the energy sector.
Aluminium firm RUSAL acquired a majority stake in Aluminium
Smelter Company (ALSCON) of Nigeria last year.
Russian oligarchs have taken big stakes in mines in South
Africa, whose governing ANC relied on Soviet support during the apartheid era.
Russian oil officials have said their push into Africa makes
economic sense as it means money earned in Russia can be used to earn them even more abroad.
But analysts say it could be long before Russia's energy
deals in Africa begin to pay off.
"They have signed bits of paper with everyone ... but I
don't expect anything very quick to happen here," said Jonathan
Stern, director of gas research at the Oxford Institute of
Energy Studies.
"Obviously what the Russians would love to do is buy up
loads of oil and gas and only use it for their own purposes, but
they are not going to be allowed to do that," Stern said.
- Reuters