Africa and the Ukraine War a Year Later
It’s been more than a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One of the issues which emerged since the invasion has been the question of where African stood on the war. Kenya’s ambassador to the United Nations, Martin Kimani, denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but other African nations have taken a different position. South Africa, for example, opted to take a neutral position on the war. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni stated: “We don’t believe in being enemies of somebody’s enemy.” Senegal’s president Macky Sall offered a similar statement, remarking: “We do not want to be aligned on this conflict, very clearly, we want peace.”
The general position of African nations seems to be remaining neutral, rather than taking sides in the conflict. A recent report from Aljazeera shows that Africa continues to remain neutral on the war. The report noted that Russia’s relationship with Africa is partly shaped by their historical relationship: “Russia has historical ties with the continent dating back to the Soviet Union, which supported many pro-independence movements in Africa at a time of Western political dominance.”
The article further notes:
During apartheid in South Africa, the Soviets offered funding and paramilitary training to the liberation movement that became the governing African National Congress (ANC) after democracy in 1994. In Zimbabwe, it supported the African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) when the party fought a settler Rhodesian government from the 1960s until independence in 1980. And in Angola, it provided military support to the Movimento Popular de Libertacao de Angola (MPLA), from the 1960s until independence from Portugal in 1975 at the height of the Cold War.
Stephen Chan, a professor of world politics at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), argued that Africa should pick sides, but in my view, there is no reason for Africa to do so. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a conflict taking place in Europe. I can certainly sympathize with the people of the Ukraine who are enduring the brutality of the Russian invasion, but one typically does not see the same sympathy or concern for victims of war in Africa from Western nations. The civil wars in Ethiopia and South Sudan, for example, has received little coverage from Western media outlets .Western nations and Western commentators only ever seem to care about Africa when they want Africa to support their agendas.
The claims of neutrality have been questioned, given Africa’s apparent apathy towards Ukraine and it’s president. The report explained:
Although the AU purports to be neutral, when Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made diplomatic overtures last April for a video conference with African leaders via the AU, to rally them to Ukraine’s side, the request was pushed back several times, and only happened in June — 10 weeks after his first request.
Even then, only four heads of state attended while the rest sent emissaries.
“This shows that African countries seem to have a soft spot for Russia and it puts the whole neutrality issue into question,” Chipaike told Al Jazeera.
Africa may indeed have a soft sport for Russia partly due to the historical relationship mentioned earlier, as well as the fact that Africans in Ukraine have had to endure racism. Many Africans simply do not believe that they have a stake in the conflict one way or other other. Africans fought in both World Wars. Africans were also dragged into the Cold War, often with disastrous consequences. Western leaders and political analysts must stop trying to drag African nations into Western conflicts.
—
Dwayne is the author of The Devastation and Economics of the African Holocaust
