Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang attend the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow, Russia on Sept. 26.Alexander Shcherbak/Reuters
There are growing signs that Russian troops have arrived in the secretive oil-rich country of Equatorial Guinea, the latest in a series of authoritarian African states that have turned to Moscow for reinforcements to tighten their internal security.
Photos of Russian troops have begun trickling out of the Central African country in recent weeks, in social-media posts and in reports from a pro-opposition website that operates beyond the local regime’s reach in Spain. Independent analysts are increasingly concluding that the reports are correct.
According to some analysts, more than 100 Russian soldiers are now deployed in Equatorial Guinea to protect the world’s longest-ruling dictator, President Teodoro Obiang, who has dominated the country for the past 45 years after overthrowing his uncle in a military coup.
At the age of 82, Mr. Obiang is expected soon to engineer a succession for his son and vice-president, Teodorin, who is controversial for his lavish playboy lifestyle and expensive spending habits. His purchases have included luxury yachts and a US$275,000 crystal-covered glove that once belonged to the pop singer Michael Jackson. But with most of the country’s 1.5 million people living below the poverty rate of about US$2 a day, the transition from father to son could trigger a period of instability and discontent.
The President, Mr. Obiang, travelled to Moscow in late September for meetings with Russian leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Obiang appeared to confirm that Russian military personnel were being sent to his country.
“I would like to express my gratitude to my friend Vladimir Putin for sending instructors to my country, who contribute to strengthening the security and defences,” Mr. Obiang said during his Kremlin meeting, according to Russian news agency TASS.
“This is of great importance to our state,” he said. “We always face threats, but we have been able to survive. … Our society has welcomed the presence of Russian experts.”
The terms “instructors” and “experts” are often used as euphemisms for foreign soldiers.
During the same visit, officials of the two countries met to discuss energy co-operation, including Russian investment in oil and gas in the African country, TASS said. And in a separate development, Russia sent one of its Baltic Fleet naval training ships, the Smolny, on a visit to Equatorial Guinea last month.
An exiled Equatorial Guinea opposition leader, Armengol Engonga, wrote to the United Nations last month to complain that the government is recruiting foreign forces “to prolong a dictatorial regime” and “to establish a hereditary monarchy.”
The Russian military deployment is probably aimed at “anti-coup protection” to ensure the transition from Mr. Obiang to his son, according to Jedrzej Czerep, an Africa analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs.
The son, Teodorin, will benefit from the Russian assistance “to secure his ascension to power,” Mr. Czerep told The Globe and Mail.
Despite this limited goal, Moscow could leverage its deployment for greater influence in the country, he said. “The Russians are good in building dependencies.”
He said the Russian troops that have arrived in Equatorial Guinea are likely to belong to the Africa Corps, a new military structure controlled by the Russian Defence Ministry that is replacing the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization, as the main vehicle for Russian deployments in Africa after the death of Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin last year.
Russian forces have been active in recent years in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, three West African countries where military officers seized power in coups and then recruited help from Moscow. The arrival of the Russians has triggered the closing of a U.S. drone base in Niger and forced the withdrawal of French and United Nations forces from Mali.
Russia also has troop deployments in Libya and the Central African Republic, and it is believed to have a military presence of some kind in Sudan.
Equatorial Guinea is seen as a strategically important country because of its oil resources and its location on the Atlantic Ocean. There have been persistent reports that China is seeking a naval base in Equatorial Guinea to gain military access to an Atlantic port for the first time.
The United States has also been courting the country, sending several delegations of U.S. officials – including the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency – to the country in 2022, shortly before its last election.
But while Mr. Putin invited Mr. Obiang to the Kremlin last month for a personal meeting, U.S. President Joe Biden has not visited Africa even once so far during his term. He had planned to make his first presidential trip to Africa this month by visiting Angola, another country with key Atlantic ports, but he postponed the trip to focus on the Hurricane Milton crisis in Florida and has not rescheduled the visit so far.