‘It’s like a new Cold War’: Russia and West vie for influence in Africa

Local residents carry boxes and sacks of food distributed by the United States Agency for International Development in Kachoda, Turkana area, northern Kenya (Desmond Tiro/AP)

Russian, French and American leaders are crisscrossing Africa to win support for their positions on the war in Ukraine, waging what some say is the most intense competition for influence on the continent since the Cold War.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and French President Emmanuel Macron are each visiting several African countries this week.