Russia Looks to the Central African Republic to Beef Up Its Arms Sales to Africa

Russia Looks to the Central African Republic to Beef Up Its Arms Sales to Africa
Ijaw millitants carry Russian-made AK-47 rifles in Okorota, Nigeria, June. 25, 2004 (AP photo by George Osodi).

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series about the production and trade of arms around the world.

In mid-December, the United Nations granted Russia an exemption to the arms embargo on the Central African Republic, after a petition from Moscow to supply the country’s embattled military with light arms and ammunition, according to reporting by the AFP. The second-largest arms exporter in the world after the United States, Russia already sells billions of dollars in weapons annually across Africa. In an email interview, Paul Stronski, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses Russia’s arms trade with Africa, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, and how arms sales fit into Russia’s broader approach to the continent.

WPR: What are Russia’s major arms sales relationships in Africa, and how important is the African market to its overall arms trade?

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