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Russia will build a naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast, its first in Africa, as the Kremlin seeks to expand its global military footprint and cement its burgeoning trade and defence ties with the continent.
The Russian navy has been directed to proceed with plans to construct a base for 300 personnel and space for up to four warships, including nuclear-powered vessels, according to an order signed by president Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The base would be only Russia’s second naval facility outside the territory of the former Soviet Union, after Tartus in Syria. The announcement comes just over a year after Russia hosted its first geopolitical summit focused on relations with African states, to which it has ramped up sales of arms and investments in natural resource projects in recent years.
In what could be seen as a blow to Washington, Moscow’s move comes only weeks after US president Donald Trump signed an executive order to remove cash-strapped Sudan from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism. US officials dismissed the news of the Russian base in Sudan as not real. There have been no comments from the Sudanese authorities.
Yet, one year after the revolution that toppled former president Omar al-Bashir, an economic crisis has added to pressure on Sudan’s government to reach deals with global and regional powers. These include the US and the UAE, while Sudan is normalising relations with Israel.
Russia has been building stronger links with African states in recent years, as it seeks new bilateral relationships and trade deals to bolster its global geopolitical influence. The facility will give Russia’s large navy a staging post in the geopolitically fraught Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region, through which a large amount of shipping trade sails between Europe and Asia.
China already has a rival naval base in Djibouti while Turkey has a military base in Somalia. Under the terms of Russia’s naval base treaty, which were agreed by Moscow earlier this month, Sudan will grant Russia land for the naval “logistics centre” for a period of 25 years, with the option for decade-long extensions.
Moscow is a major arms supplier to Sudan, Egypt, Algeria and Angola, and has also developed strong defence ties with the Central African Republic. While its level of investment in the continent is dwarfed by that of China, it has targeted specific ventures for Russian corporates, such as bauxite mining in Guinea, oil projects in Nigeria and nickel mines in South Africa.
Russia will supply Sudan with weapons to defend the site, according to a Russian government document, and will be permitted to station troops outside the facility on Sudanese territory.
Moscow has sought to use its military exports and security apparatus to gain footholds across a continent where the former Soviet Union used to have significant clout. Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan, the military head of Sudan’s hybrid military-civilian transitional government, met Mr Putin in Sochi during the Russia-Africa summit last October.