I’ve written a longread on the ‘Russia question’ in the #DRC #Congo. My main point: #Russia was (is?) being considered as a serious partner by the Tshisekedi admin., not primarily due to Russia, but due to (perceived & real) Western policy failure(s). lawfareblog.com/democratic-rep… 1/n First, #Russia has been trying to gain influence in the #DRC, similar to how this was done in #CAR. E.g. in February 2021, it donated a large consignment of weapons ( 10,000 Kalashnikov rifles and around 3 million cartridges of ammunition) – which is how Wagner entered #CAR (2/n)

My latest for @Africanarguments, with Catherine Windey and @olivierabahati1: “Congo’s oil auction: foiling climate colonialism or filling the coffers?” (Long!) thread. africanarguments.org/2022/08/congo-… (1/N)

https://twitter.com/africaarguments/status/1562002393969135616

On 28-29 July, the #DRC government put up 30 oil and gas blocks up for auction; with many of them overlapping with protected areas in the world’s second-biggest rainforest including the #Virunga UNESCO World Heritage site.
greenpeace.org/africa/en/pres… (2/N)