Russia to Open Embassy in Another African State.

Comoros has agreed to the establishment of a Russian diplomatic mission in its capital, Moroni, local media reported on Thursday, citing a document from the African island nation’s Foreign Ministry.

By Caroline Ameh

The Comorian government has welcomed the move as an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations with Moscow, according to a letter addressed to the Russian mission in neighbouring Madagascar and published by the news agency Comores-infos.

The government of the Union of the Comoros accepts the request of the authorities of the Russian Federation to establish an embassy in the Union of the Comoros,” the ministry stated.

“The establishment of this embassy in Moroni will bring the Union of the Comoros and the Russian Federation, which have maintained bilateral relations for several years, closer together and open up new prospects for cooperation between the two countries,” it added.

The move comes at a time when Moscow has declared that developing ties with African states is among its top foreign policy priorities. Plans to open an embassy in Comoros and several other countries, including the Gambia, Liberia, and Togo, in the “near future” were first announced last month by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Currently, the diplomatic representation for Comoros is managed through Russia’s embassy in Madagascar.

Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow is set to expand its diplomatic presence in Africa with the establishment of embassies in Sierra Leone and South Sudan – the continent’s newest country. She said the relevant government decrees had been issued at the end of December, with the official opening of the missions scheduled for the “near future.”

Russia also intends to reopen its mission in Niger, which had, along with the Sahel state’s embassy in Moscow, ceased operations in the 1990s due to budgetary challenges.

In December 2023, Moscow’s embassy in Burkina Faso officially resumed operations after being shut for more than three decades. The mission in Equatorial Guinea also opened last year, according to Lavrov.

Comoros is an archielago Island nation located off the eastern coast of Africa. By 2024 population figures, it has approximately 883,075 people with approximately 2,235 square kilometres. The former French Colony got independence in 1975.

Russia’s growing interest in former French colonies in Africa has raised suspicions due to its strategic and economic motivations. Most of these countries have large deposits of mineral resources.