EU must win ‘battle of narratives’ with Russia to retain African influence

The EU needs to make a strong offer to African states to win a battle of narratives with Russia and China, the bloc’s international partnerships commissioner told MEPs on Tuesday (11 July). 

The comments come in the context of support for Russia, indifference over the Ukrainian war, and the growing influence of Moscow and the once-Kremlin-friendly Wagner group on the continent.

“In many African countries, we face a battle of narratives,” Jutta Urpilainen, the EU’s commissioner for international partnerships, told the European Parliament on Tuesday (11 July) during a debate on the EU’s Africa strategy.

“So we know that, for instance, Russia is very active in their propaganda, with their disinformation. But more and more, we also face a battle of offers, what we partners can offer to our African counterparts,” she added. 

The Global Gateway programme is widely viewed as the EU’s answer to China’s Belt and Road infrastructure programme and promises to provide €170 billion in public and private sector investment for African states by 2027. 

“We know that Russia’s approach is very much on security, based on Wagner Group services. China has been focusing on hard infrastructure projects through their Belt and Road initiative, and our approach is Global Gateway,” she added. 

Meanwhile, the EU executive is negotiating agreements on critical raw materials with countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce the EU’s overdependence on Chinese industrial and mineral supplies and speed up its green transition. 

In June, the Commission concluded a deal with Namibia and is in talks with Chile to marry the EU’s need for critical minerals and raw materials for our green transition with investment to industrialise African economies and develop value chains. 

EU officials and national diplomats have been taken aback by the equivocal stance taken by many African states on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has intensified the sense of geopolitical competition between the EU and Russia, as well as the likes of China and the United States, in terms of political relations in Africa. 

The Commission has also increased its resources to tackle Russian disinformation campaigns on social media and other platforms in the Sahel region, where the Wagner mercenary group is supporting the military regimes in Mali and Burkina Faso.

“From my perspective, we also have a very good offer and answer on how to tackle and compete with that disinformation in our partner countries,” Urpilainen said. 

At June’s European Council summit in Brussels, EU leaders confirmed their support for the African Union becoming a full member of the G20, and the Commission and EU member states are supporting an African seat on the UN Security Council. 

However, President Vladimir Putin is set to host a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg later this month.  

Urpilainen told MEPs that for many African states, “there are also historical relationships with Russia”, including Kremlin support for the struggles for independence and democracy in South Africa, Mozambique, Angola and others.  

“We know…that China is a very important economic actor in many of our partner countries. So I would say that there are different reasons in different partner countries why they are hesitant to take sides in this conflict,” she said.

The MEP added that this is “why it is so important to reach out to them and also explain why we have to condemn Russia’s attack and why it’s so important that they support us, for instance in the United Nations,” said Urpilainen. 

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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