Russia is working to enhance its economic and military ties in Africa, Moscow has outlined.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared on Monday that Russia’s presence in Africa is “growing”. The move is part of an ongoing bid by Moscow to step into a geopolitical vacuum in West Africa as Western powers retreat amid a series of military coups in the region.

“We really intend to comprehensively develop our interaction with African countries, focusing primarily on economic and investment interaction,” Peskov told reporters.

“This also corresponds to and extends to such sensitive areas as defence and security,” he added.

Russia’s growing security role in parts of Africa, including in countries such as Mali, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea, is viewed with concern by the West, and has come at the expense of former colonial power France, whose forces have departed or been expelled from several West African countries over recent years, and the United States.

The Kremlin’s ambition appears undimmed by recent reports that Russian paramilitary group Wagner is leaving Mali after helping the military government fight armed groups.