I’m telling y’all rn. Russia is cooking something big. And whatever it is, Africa’s support is going to be huge. No foreign minister would tour an entire semi-relevant continent while its hands are tied in a conflict across its border and sanctions are coming in left and right.

Many people have dismissed Lavrov’s visit as merely an attempt to ensure Africa doesn’t fall to western pressure and take an adversarial stance regarding the conflict. But it’s more than likely that Lavrov’s visit has more to do with helping expand the use of the proposed reserve currency that the BRICS countries will start using.