In the Sahel, jihadists control large parts of the region and have displaced millions of people over the past fifteen years.
Burkina Faso has just ended the military agreement that allowed French troops to fight al-Qaeda and Islamic State insurgents on its territory.
The ruling junta still wants France to supply them with military equipment, but says it can defend itself. We will see. Burkina Faso has neither confirmed nor denied the information that it decided to call in Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group.
French troops withdrew from neighboring Mali last year, ending a decade of fighting Islamist insurgents after relations between the two countries deteriorated. Both Burkina Faso and Mali are ruled by military juntas that have violently seized power over the past two years.
The withdrawal of the French army from Mali coincided with the junta’s decision to hire the Russian mercenary group Wagner, with whom it signed a lucrative deal. Other European countries withdrew their troops citing Mali’s collaboration with Wagner. President Macron has accused Russia of “predatory” influence in struggling African countries.
Atrocities in Africa as in Ukraine
The NGO Human Rights Watch accuses the Wagner group of war crimes and torture in Mali and the Central African Republic. This country, which has been in civil war since 2013, is at the heart of Russia’s strategy of influence in Africa.
France decided in the summer of 2021 to suspend its military cooperation with Bangui. The tight guard of the dictator Faustin-Archange Touadéra is ensured by Russian mercenaries who also act as his advisers.
Touadéra gave the group control of the country’s mining resources, whose subsoil is rich in gold and diamonds.
Several bloody attacks have been reported in artisanal mines in the northeast of the country over the past three months, killing dozens of civilians. In neighboring Sudan, the Wagner Group offers the regime protection against privileged access to the country’s gold mining operations.
Wagner, spearhead of Russia
The Wagner Group, recently labeled an international terrorist organization by the United States, is spreading its tentacles in Africa. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Russian mercenaries are operating in 18 African countries to advance Moscow’s geopolitical goals.
African leaders turn to Wagner to quell uprisings, protect themselves and defend their regimes. In return, they leave the exploitation of natural resources to the group, with whom they share the revenue.
Gone are the days when France was completely at home in Africa. Its secret services and its army created and destroyed the regimes there. Now the Russians are coming running. And not only in Françafrique. France and the West have other fish to fry.
