In Focus | Africa
Russia's electoral "experts" aim to conquer Africa
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Although controversial in Russia itself, Russian electoral know-how has become an export product, notably in Africa. Russian pollsters, consultants and analysts are besieging African presidencies with offers of opinion polls and vote surveillance techniques, which they present as antidotes to Western interference.
As the dust settles over Sochi's Olympic districts following the first Russia-Africa Economic Forum, Russia is looking to spread its influence in Africa in new ways. Apart from mining investment and defence agreements, it is developing its capacities in the new field of electoral consulting. Over recent months, a network of political advisers has been created. These advisers travel from country to country, proposing their electoral expertise to African governments. They distribute the results of
