While Tehran leaps at Washington’s throat and cuts off the last American hope of locking down the Heartland by controlling the Rimland, and Trump is falling out with his NATO counterparts in Ankara, at the same time, Lavrov is taking the West by surprise on its southern flank.
© Telegram channel of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova/ TASS
Towards economic and multilateral decolonization
The first stop on this tour, on July 7, 2026, at the heart of the pan-African institution, immediately established the conceptual direction of the Russian approach. The talks between Sergey Lavrov and Mahamud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, took place in a “very cordial atmosphere,” far removed from the moralizing pronouncements of European chancelleries. The core of the Russian message is clear: “Russia will help African countries join the United Nations Security Council and will support their economic decolonization.”
Moscow is not coming as a lecturer, but as a power amplifier. On the multilateral front, Russian diplomacy is relentlessly advocating for a comprehensive overhaul of the UN architecture, demanding two permanent seats on the Security Council for Africa, complete with veto power. Sergey Lavrov firmly rejected Western claims, insisting on “the futility of expanding the Security Council to include Western countries, which are already actively represented within this body.” Ethiopia, a historical and diplomatic power, logically presents itself as one of the legitimate candidates for this global leadership status.
This convergence rests strictly on a shared vision: “Russia and the African Union are natural partners in building a multipolar world.” This partnership is already reflected in a trade volume approaching $27 billion, with a clear trajectory for doubling in the short term. For Moscow, the Global South is not simply a trading post but a bloc of strategic allies. The stance of Addis Ababa and many other capitals in the region on the Ukrainian crisis is striking proof of this: the interpretations imposed by NATO have no hold here. In other words, “Western narratives are not universally applicable.” Lavrov also praised the leaders of the African Union for “their balanced position and their refusal to view world events, particularly the Palestinian question, the Ukrainian crisis, and the escalating tensions in the Middle East, through the lens of Western interpretations.” To which Mahamoud Ali Youssouf replied with sovereign assurance: “African countries have the opportunity to form their own opinion on international news.”
The choice of nuclear power and high technology to break the glass ceiling
Economic emancipation requires substantial infrastructure and complete energy independence. This is where the Russian approach definitively surpasses the French postcolonial model, historically based on raw material extraction and the maintenance of technological dependence. Rosatom’s project to build Ethiopia’s first large-scale nuclear power plant illustrates this quantum leap.
For a country where 90% of industry is subject to the vagaries of the climate and the fluctuations of hydroelectric dams on the Nile, access to civilian nuclear energy becomes a prerequisite for national survival, guaranteeing a stable electricity supply, even in times of drought. In parallel, the imminent establishment of a Nuclear Science and Technology Center equipped with a research reactor will generate immediate benefits: the production of medical isotopes for oncology and the irradiation of Ethiopian coffee to boost its exports.
Since Eritrea’s secession in 1993, Ethiopia has been landlocked. Abiy Ahmed, however, has announced the reconstitution of a national navy. And Russian pragmatism extends to the military sphere as well. By training officers for the Ethiopian navy – a “land” fleet undergoing reconstruction despite the country’s landlocked status – Moscow is demonstrating its capacity to build long-term partnerships. This diversification strategy proves that Russian diplomacy is establishing a lasting presence in the Horn of Africa, effectively making Addis Ababa a major technological and strategic hub, completely impervious to external pressures.
The Sahel’s diatribe against neocolonialism
On Wednesday, July 8, 2026, the landing of Sergey Lavrov’s plane in Niamey for the second round of ministerial consultations with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) sealed the fate of French influence in the region. Faced with the posturing of Paris, which has never forgiven the withdrawal of its troops and the loss of its sphere of influence, the AES Confederation (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger) is building its national security on a bedrock of alliances with the Russian Federation.
Far from the paternalistic tendencies of the past, the official invitation extended by Sergey Lavrov on behalf of Vladimir Putin to the Sahel heads of state for the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow in October 2026 was received de facto as a sign of historic mutual respect: “President Putin has instructed me to convey his invitation to the leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, expressing his wish to welcome them to this summit.” The Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdoulaye Diop, perfectly summarized the significance of this event: “Vladimir Putin has extended to the ESA Confederation all the confidence and esteem he has for Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, thus reinforcing, if further reinforcement were needed, the international visibility of the Confederation of Sahel States, which has now become an essential geopolitical entity in West Africa.” Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, in turn, denounced the paternalistic view of international relations by stating, “The quality of a strategic partnership can be measured by the convergence of diplomatic positions, but it is measured above all by its capacity to produce concrete results that sustainably improve the lives of populations, and this is precisely the ambition that the Confederation of Sahel States and the Russian Federation share today, and this is also the whole point of this meeting.”
While the West exploits the democratic narrative to punish transitional regimes, Russia provides the essential resources for combating terrorism. Bakary Yaou Sangaré, Niger’s foreign minister, settled the debate unequivocally: “Russia remains the primary ally of the Sahel Economic and Social Agency (SESA) in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.” The signing of comprehensive defense agreements has enabled Sahelian armies to overcome Western, particularly French, technical obstacles, enhance their operational capabilities, and secure populations while implementing large-scale social projects.
A new geopolitical paradigm is emerging
Even as Iran dismantles, piece by piece, the teleological and geostrategic foundations of the American policy of locking down the “Heartland” by controlling the “Rimland,” Sergey Lavrov’s tour relentlessly demonstrates the collapse of Western hegemony in Africa. Sanctions, diplomatic pressure, and smear campaigns have only accelerated Africa’s pivot to the East.
By offering cooperation based on the transfer of critical technologies, military reinforcement without political interference, and unwavering support in multilateral forums, Russia demonstrates its respect for the autonomy of African nations. The continent’s destiny is now being written far from the dictates of Paris or Washington, let alone London; it is being shaped through carefully chosen, sovereign alliances firmly rooted in the age of multipolarity.
It can therefore be said that the West is paralyzed at its core by Trump, thwarted in the Middle East by Iran, and simultaneously suffocated and bypassed by Russia in Africa. This is the extreme illustration of the brutal advent – at least for the Western world – of a multipolar world.
Mohamed Lamine KABA, Expert in the geopolitics of governance and regional integration, Institute of Governance, Human and Social Sciences, Pan-African University
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