"Russia is a key strategic partner for Africa," a Senegalese researcher and economist, Demba Moussa Dembélé, commented on the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's African tour.
"The Republic of the Congo is one of the African countries that had very close relations with the former Soviet Union and today's Russia," Dembélé told Sputnik Africa.
On June 6, Lavrov came to the Republic of the Congo after a visit to Guinea for the second time in two years. Currently, he is in Burkina Faso and will soon be heading to Chad, as announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Africa sees Russia as one of its strategic partners, not only militarily, but also economically and diplomatically, according to the expert.
"At the level of the [UN] Security Council, Russia has repeatedly defended African countries against the West: the United States, France and the United Kingdom. This is the case with Mali, Niger and other countries," he added.
In the economic field, the researcher noted, Russia is building nuclear power plants on the continent.
"Russia is currently a major player in Africa, on which African countries are counting, especially those that want to escape the neocolonial influence of Western countries and especially American imperialism," Dembélé highlighted.