Russia to build spaceports in friendly African states as world powers jostle for influence

Russia has offered to construct spaceports on the territory of friendly African nations, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, and others, just as the competition among the great powers heats up as they jostle over who will control rocket launch sites projects across the continent.
Russian state space corporation Roscosmos, which is one of the foreign investors that is especially attracted by the geographical advantages of the eastern part of Africa, has been involved in active negotiations with both African and Southeast Asian nations for cooperation. “Today, among the main partners, we can probably name countries such as India, China, Iran. We have big plans with South Africa, with a number of African countries, with Algeria, Zimbabwe, with Indonesia, with Malaysia,” Roscosmos head Yury Borisov said on Friday (22 November). The Russian state-owned space corporation aims to diversify its services by constructing ground infrastructure for the launch of carrier rockets in partnering countries, whereby Borisov noted that the offer is especially relevant for friendly states that are close to the equator.
The Roscosmos chief said that while nearly 70% of Roscosmos’ shipments went to “so-called unfriendly countries” before the imposition of sanctions against Russia, its export policy is changing now, and active work is underway especially with friendly African countries. For example, Moscow has recently signed a memorandum of cooperation in the naval area with the Central African Republic (CAR). The Kremlin has also been involved in discussion about possible military cooperation and joint defense projects with the Congolese military, just as Uganda has recently disclosed its intentions to get in on Russia’s nuclear expansion in the continent.