The Russian government has stated that Africa is integral to its foreign policy, and current trends point to expanded Russian engagement to offset sanctions and enhance its global profile. The Kremlin gains influence through governance gaps – especially corruption and insecurity – in various countries on the continent, working with domestic elites for mutual gain. 

While strengthening key aspects and institutions of democracy would yield much broader benefits for the continent, they would also enhance African resilience against foreign influences that undermine the democratic norms, ideals and outcomes that Africans want and that are enshrined in several of the continent’s country-specific, subregional and continent-wide protocols and conventions. 

This report outlines outcomes from a workshop that NDI convened in February 2024 to identify ways to build democratic resilience to Kremlin influences that undermine democracy on the continent in three key areas:

• Information influence operations;
• Insecurity and military contractors; and
• Illicit, opaque financial flows.

Based on deliberations involving subject matter experts from various countries, 35 representatives of African civil society organizations and members of the international democracy support community, the document identifies four cross-cutting areas for action as well as recommendations to shore up resilience in each of the three areas that the workshop examined