PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo) In September 2019, Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev sat down for an interview with the Russian news outlet RBC and announcedthe launch of the International Agency of Sovereign Development (IASD). It was to be a brand-new Russian investment group set to make its public debut at the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi later that year. Malofeev has been sanctioned by both the United States and the EU for his role in the Russian annexation of Crimea. He is the same “God’s Oligarch” whose ultra-conservative Tsargrad news network was banned from YouTube for “violation of legislation on sanctions and trade rules.” Now, IASD is positioning itself to be instrumental in a Russian effort to “Pivot back to Africa” after withdrawing during more than a decade of internal strife and international decline in the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union. Moscow recognizes the importance of Africa for trade and industry, and IASD’s Soviet nostalgia, anti-Western sentiment, and development funds would find consumers on the continent. It has the potential to be an influential alternative to Western and Chinese interests while attracting significantly less attention than, for example, the African operations of Evgeni Prigozhin and the Wagner Group.
