Kevin Limonier « Russia’s African Toolkit: Digital Influence and Entrepreneurs of Influence » – Orbis

ORBIS

Author

LIMONIER Kevin

Discover the article written by Kevin Limonier and Marlene Laruelle on « Russia’s African Toolkit: Digital Influence and Entrepreneurs of Influence »

Abstract : Today, Russian influence on the
African continent is still anecdotic compared to the People’s Republic
of China, the United States, and former colonial powers, such as France.
Yet, Moscow has committed to reasserting itself as an alternative pole
of influence to China and Western countries in the eyes of some African
elites. This article analyzes two key components of Russia’s African
toolkit: its media outlets such as RT and Sputnik, which have managed to
impose themselves on the African media landscape, and its entrepreneurs
of influence, in charge of influence campaigns of different scopes. The
article contends that Russia’s media success relies more on the
appropriation of its informational content by African actors with their
own political agendas than on Moscow convincing African audiences of the
legitimacy of its foreign policy
or political model, and that entrepreneurs of influence may play a
useful, but limited, role in testing new parameters of influence.

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