The International Crisis Group posted on 19 May 2022 a half hour podcast titled "What Africa Really Thinks about the War in Ukraine" with Hassan Khannenje, director at the HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies based in Nairobi, as interviewed by Alan Boswell.
Khannenje argues that the conflict in Ukraine is not a priority for Africans and is seen as an extension of the Cold War. African countries are ambivalent and not especially interested in taking sides. There is also a desire not to offend China, which is aligned with Russia on its war in Ukraine. There is an African perception that Western countries pursue a double standard when it comes to human rights and the use of sanctions. Africans were also appalled at the treatment of African students as they escaped the war in Ukraine.
Africans want to maintain good relations with both East and West. There is a widespread view that Africans have nothing to lose by staying neutral. This does not mean there is much support for Russia, a marginal player in Africa with whom some African countries have almost no relations.
Comment: This is an important discussion and the best explanation I have heard so far on the ambivalence of so many African countries to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
