Public backlash against the recruitment of Africans as war fodder has influenced this trend. Other factors include Moscow’s lack of meaningful investment in African countries. Russia’s bilateral trade with Africa reached just over $27 billion last year, compared with $93 billion in India-Africa trade and $348 billion in China-Africa trade.

Effectively, African leaders are looking for more than just talk when it comes to investment in the continent. An opinion column in the Nigerian Guardian noted on Tuesday that Moscow has not delivered on many of the investments it pledged nearly a decade ago, including Russian-built nuclear plants.