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African heads of state have started arriving in the resort city of Sochi ahead of the inaugural Russia-Africa summit, taking place on October 23-24. Dozens of leaders from across the continent are expected to attend the occasion.

Hosted Vladimir Putin, it’s the centrepiece of recent efforts by Russia to rekindle Cold War era ties with Africa, focused on energy deals, mining, and arms trading.

Moscow’s renewed interest has spooked the West, fueling talk of a ‘new scramble for Africa’ pitting the US and Europe against competition from Russia and China. It’s a throwback to the Cold War, with African governments seen to be confronted with an East versus West choice.

The focus is generally on which side is more concerned with helping Africa, rather than exploiting it.

This makes for good news headlines, but largely misses the point.

Russia is just the latest on growing list of suitors – including the likes of Japan, India, Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia – vying for political and economic influence on the continent.

The priority for African governments should not be on picking sides, but leveraging this interest to support their development needs. This means striking the best possible deals with the most suitable partners, which could be East, West, both, or neither.

This report reflects the views of the author alone, not those of How we made it in Africa.

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Russia’s Africa summit is not about East…