The Russian arms industry counts African billions. Moscow is driving the West out of the market

Russia is strengthening its military ties with African countries, especially in the Sahel region. When some of them, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, cut themselves off from Western influence by eliminating French and American bases, the Russian state-owned Rosoboronexport obtained military contracts worth $4 billion.

This is reported by the industry portal MilitaryAfrica.

While the United States and Western countries are trying to stop the uncontrolled flow of weapons to conflict-ridden African countries, primarily Sudan, Russia is trying to regain the position of its main supplier. He signs new contracts and sells weapons, among others. to Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, a total of 46 countries on this continent.

For the Kremlin, the most financially advantageous are contracts for the supply of planes and helicopters, which African countries willingly purchase. One of the largest in the past few years was the one concluded with Ethiopia for the purchase of Su-30K multi-role fighters and at least six Su-35s. Russian aircraft are dramatically changing the position of Ethiopia, which has disputes with neighboring Sudan, Eritrea and Egypt, none of which currently have an air fleet comparable to its own.

Algeria will soon be able to boast of the most advanced and expensive Russian planes, which should receive two Su-57s at the beginning of 2026.

However, most African countries have very limited defense budgets and rely on cheaper Russian weapons, including air defense systems, especially the Tor short-range surface-to-air missile system or the Pantsir-S1.

Even cheaper weapons go to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, countries struggling with jihadist insurgencies, and to Uganda, which is trying to play the role of an East African power.

Moscow not only earns money from these supplies and gains loyal partners, but also gets rid of obsolete weapons, such as armored vehicles based on T-55 tanks developed in the 1950s, which it sent to Kampala.

Russia, which does not comply with international law, remains a trading partner for many authoritarian regimes in Africa due to lack of choice. And this only applies to arms trade. In general, Russia's trade with Africa is currently half as much as, for example, France's with this continent and 10 times smaller than China's.

Tadeusz Brzozowski (PAP)

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