By Kestér Kenn KLOMEGÂH
Amid heightening of geopolitical situation, Russia, perceived as an isolated global player, has been exploring esteemed pathways to get admirable Africa’s sympathy, this time capitalizing on its nuclear power technology. In practical terms, Russia has the potential capacity to support Africa’s energy shortage which has hold back sustainable economic growth across the continent.
Admittedly, Russia’s journey, following the collapse of the Soviet era, over the past three decades, somehow, exemplifies the strength and potential of remarkable efforts taken at forging mutual energy cooperation. Perhaps, it’s time to ask some critical questions as grounds for an insightful conversation into the degree of achievements and challenges, concretely on the promise of nuclear energy in Africa.
Nuclear Topic Features at Summits
As part of its geopolitical commitment to Africa, during a plenary sessions of the first and second Russia-Africa summits, held respectively in October 2019 and July 2023, Vladimir Putin highlighted Russia’s nuclear energy cooperation with Africa.
Acting in accordance with the norms of the national legislation of the Russian Federation and that of African States, for instance, the St. Petersburg summit declared among others, magnitude agreements with a focus on a wide range of pertinent questions of pursuing a joint work and outlined plans to strengthen nuclear policy as it would create a parallel basis for upgrading and raising consequently industrial development in Africa.
Several speeches on Africa available at the Kremlin’s official website, Putin has underscored, since his ascension to presidency 2001, the fact that the nuclear power industry, where Russia is a technological leader, offers several African partners the creation of an entire industry on a turnkey basis.
Agreements on cooperation in the field of atoms for peace have been signed, and interestingly renewed as appropriate, with a number of countries in the region, while in some of them the work has never acquired any practical dimension except to create information propaganda. Joint efforts are currently being envisioned to implement the agreements reached in several previous years, at least for the past decade.
According to analytical reports, African countries which signed agreements for such construction of nuclear plants by Russia as follows: Algeria (2014), Ghana (2015), Ethiopia (2019), Republic of Congo (2019), Nigeria (2012, 2016), Rwanda (2018), South Africa (2004), Sudan (2017), Tunisia (2016), Uganda (2019) and Zambia (2016). Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with Kenya in 2016 and Morocco in 2017.
A simple ‘memorandum of understanding’ on nuclear with Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali in July 2023 in St. Petersburg went viral world-wide as part of Russia’s information propaganda, to show its preparedness to support their development initiatives of these French-controlled African states.
Long before these summits, intergovernmental commissions set up between various African countries and Russia, nuclear diplomacy prominently featured at the ministerial levels at their regular meetings.
After these meetings, cooperation on implementation of nuclear power was the light of the outcomes of discussions by heads of African regional organizations including the African Union, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the East African Community, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the Economic Community of Central African States, the Economic Community of West African States, and the African Export-Import Bank.
Above-mentioned trends emphasized, as often described, trust and sincere friendship that characterizes Russia-Africa cooperation. Russia’s ultimate showcase for nuclear has taken the central stage as a unique and diverse pathway to support Africa’s economic development and upset energy deficiency which has affected more 800 million out of Africa’s 1.4 billion people.
And as a further step to strengthen strategic partnerships within its post-Soviet relations, Russian Rosatom State Corporation’s official files starkly show bilateral agreements signed with more than 20 African countries.
Africa’s Nuclear Case Studies
(i) South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa unswervingly promised to embark on a swift and vigorous economic resuscitation of South Africa. That proposed radical economic transformation has been crippled by energy shortage/crisis across the country, which is often rated as the best economic power in Africa.
Corruption that hollowed out Eskom’s coffers under Jacob Zuma’s presidency, lack of plant maintenance and sabotage were blamed for South Africa’s electricity crisis.
Credible reports said the government spent $1.6 billion from the budget for diesel purchases alone. Eskom’s colossal debt, still equivalent to $23 billion. It suffers from electricity outages at troubled state utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and rail and port bottlenecks take their toll, industrialization slowed, while social discontent dominates across the country.
South Africa has had nuclear contract signed with Russia back from 2015 under Jacob Zuma, at the time of his presidency. According to research sources, main reason why the 2015 nuclear power agreement thrown out by the South Africa’s parliament, it was an opaque unilateral deal with Moscow.
South African pact with Russia’s Rosatom to build nuclear reactors was deemed unlawful by a High Court in April 2017. The Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Earthlife Africa-Johannesburg had jointly filed the court application to stop the nuclear program.
Both the Russian government and the administration of Jacob Zuma put pressure on the South African government to force through the deal by attempting to circumvent South Africa’s procurement laws. The Russian government readily offered to build and operate up to eight nuclear power plants at a cost of R1 trillion ($66 billion).
South Africa boasts of an excellent reputation on global stage and yet suffers from high youth unemployment, grappling with energy supply deficits and many other economic obstacles. Currently there is still down-to-earth broad disillusionment with the African National Congress (ANC).
According to local African and foreign critics, despite its widened bilateral relations many foreign countries, Ramaphosa still consistently attributes weak economic performance on external factors. Corruption has become an unerasable characteristic feature of its today’s politics. South Africa scored 41 points out of 100 on the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index.
(ii) Arab Republic of Egypt: Quite recently in March 2023, Vladimir Putin spoke at the international parliamentary conference ‘Russia – Africa in a Multipolar World’ held in Moscow under the auspices of the State Duma of the Russian Federal Assembly.
In fact, one key question that featured during conference was that Rosatom building a nuclear power plant in Egypt and strategic plans to expand its involvement in the development of national energy systems in the African continent. Putin notably underscored a distinctive fact that in some African countries 100-percent funding would be provided by Russian State.
With Arab Republic of Egypt in North Africa, it has been in the works for several years and has a chequered history for decades. The Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) was established in 1976, and in 1983 the El Dabaa site on the Mediterranean coast was first selected. With over 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa, popular referred to as Maghreb region and part of the Arab World.
Egypt is the third most populous country after Nigeria and Ethiopia in Africa. About half of Egypt’s residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centers of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities along the Nile Delta. Therefore, Egypt needs sufficient energy to drive its industries and for domestic utilization.
Egypt’s nuclear plans, however, were shelved after the Chernobyl accident. But, in 2006, Egypt announced it would revive its civilian nuclear power program, and build a 1,000 MW nuclear power station at El Dabaa. Its estimated cost, at the time, was $12.5 billion, and the plans were to do the construction with the help of foreign investors. In March 2008, Egypt signed an agreement with Russia on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Rosatom has shown interest not only Egypt but many other countries in Africa. Over the past two decades, at least, it has signed agreements irreversible guarantee the construction of nuclear energy plants and training of specialists for these countries.
Rosatom State Corporation’s Director General, Alexey Likhachev, emphasized these points at the first Russia-Africa summit that Rosatom has already been cooperating with more than 20 African countries, in particular, building the largest ‘El-Dabaa’ NPP in Egypt with an installed capacity of 4.8 GW.
The total cost of construction finally fixed at $30 billion in May 2022. Research shows that Russia granted a loan $25 billion for the construction of the nuclear power plant which covers 85% of the work. The remaining expenses will be covered by the Egyptian side by attracting private investors. Under the agreement, Egypt will start payments on the loan, which is provided at 3% per annum, from October 2029.
Requirements for Building Nuclear
Nevertheless, Russia most often addresses nuclear policy with much propaganda these three decades after the collapse of the Soviet era. Majority of African states in search of establishing energy sovereignty relatively failed in identifying financial sources, and addressing, within the standard framework and the basic requirements set International Atomic Agency Commission.
Arguably African leaders have to refine and review their political approach towards energy resolution by adopting nuclear energy, an important area of the bilateral cooperation between Russia and Africa.
It has to be understood that a nuclear power program is a complex undertaking that requires meticulous planning, preparation, and investment in time, institutions, and human resources. The development of such a program does not happen overnight and can take several years to implement.
Building a large-scale nuclear reactor takes thousands of workers, massive amounts of steel and concrete, thousands of components, and several systems to provide electricity, cooling, ventilation, information, control and communication. In practical terms, according to estimates, another critical question is the aggregate cost involved. There are no silver bullets when it comes to energy sources and as a future sustainable solution to energy crisis across Africa.
Transparency for Building Cooperation
Most of these post-Soviet years, Russia’s growing opacity, agreements clouded in secrecy which feature in its policy is seriously affecting its image inside Africa. That however, it has been pushing nuclear technology to African nations both to turn a profit and to expand its political might on the continent.
Despite the complexity of challenges and skepticism, there still lies significant opportunities for both bi- and multilateral cooperation between Russia and African countries.
Russia and Africa has had an excellent relations dating from the Soviet times. From an objective assessment, Russia owes Africa absolutely nothing, and consequently has not made public financial commitment for investment in Africa.
That has to be Africa’s financial institutions preferred task of itemizing the continent’s most significant priorities. Today, African countries face unprecedented challenges. Rapid population growth and the worsening energy crisis are constraining economic growth in the continent.
Nuclear technologies can become a driver for socio-economic development and a comprehensive solution to the systemic continent-wide problems.
But building nuclear power still faces huge financial difficulties across Africa. Without much doubts, Russia could effectively utilize its substantial nuclear technology for expanding its energy footprint on Africa’s landscape.
In a nutshell, Africa has long been in search for foreign finance to develop large-scale energy projects. Therefore, looking at the good foundation and highly valued the results at the previous two summits, it is now time for Russia seriously consider the unique policy perspectives and to take concrete action for deepening the Russia-Africa partnership, in addition to Egypt’s El-Dabaa NPP, in building nuclear in other parts of Africa.
Perhaps, the most important forward-looking approach is for the continental organization, the African Union (AU) can – and should – engage its members in a more structured manner and help them minimize the setbacks and particularly put together joint positions on this critical energy issues as relating to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and within the Agenda 2063.
