Images from Burkina Faso show that the military coup that took place in September went beyond another political destabilization. In the streets, dozens of people hoisted flags and posters in defense of a greater Russian presence.
The episode has as a backdrop the expansion of Moscow’s diplomatic and military participation in Africa, notably in the Sahel region. Experts suggest that the movement stems, in particular, from the failure of Western nations, such as France, to help these countries consolidate democracies.
The Burkinabe case seems to follow the pattern observed so far: in early December, the local regime granted a license to explore a new gold mine to the Russian mining company Nordgold. Two weeks later, neighboring Ghana accused the country of paying with the mine to hire Russian mercenaries belonging to the Wagner Group, a private paramilitary company that is also active in the Ukrainian War.
Already ravaged by the impacts of the climate emergency and extreme poverty, the Sahel has become the scene of jihadism in recent years. Paris, linked to nations in the region through colonial ties, established Operation Barkhane in 2014 to help fight terrorism, but, faced with little or no success, ended it last November.
Mostly autocratic and militarized, local regimes need outside help to fight radical groups, but they have shown to be tired of the demands made in return.
“There is a tendency for Russian actors not to focus on building independent institutions within states, as opposed to what is done by the European Union and the UN,” says Zoë Gorman, who studies the subject at Princeton University. “Russians are not there to tell African countries how to run their states; they are more interested in a purely economic and military arrangement.”
The aspiration of these countries meets the appetite of Moscow, which seeks to consolidate in Africa and Asia fields of influence that counterbalance the distance from Europe.
Angelo Segrillo, professor of history at USP and author of “Os Russos”, says that Vladimir Putin’s government started to look more to the continent after the crisis generated by the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, in 2014. Russia to escape the encirclement and diplomatic isolation by the West and gain allies elsewhere in the world.”
The movement became more evident in 2019, when the Russian leader received in Sochi, on the shores of the Black Sea, about 40 African leaders, at the first Russia-Africa summit.
On the Russian side, in addition to diplomatic support in international forums and access to resources such as deposits, there is also the expansion of military influence. The factor, however, radiated concern throughout 2022.
In April, NGOs internationally demanded responses from the Malian regime after the death of 200 to 300 people in an action against Islamic radicals in the central region of the country. The main suspicion is that the Wagner Group, hired by the regime, took part in the operation.
The increase in human rights violations in actions led by local regimes has been one of the main consequences of the greater Russian presence, says Gorman. “Similar trends have occurred in other African conflicts with mercenary activity, such as in the Central African Republic, Libya and Mozambique.”
The scenario stems from the violence of local regimes, but also from the impunity that surrounds the activities of private paramilitary companies such as Wagner, restrained by international law but, in practice, active in different regions. Added to this is the fact that the group is often hired by local elites. “They are not accountable to the population, but to the person who signs their contract.”
Nations like the US repeatedly criticize the performance of mercenaries, even though groups of this type have acted alongside the Americans in conflicts such as the Iraq War.
In a recent statement, the State Department accused the leader of the Wagner Group, oligarch Ievgeni Prigojin, of co-opting movements in defense of African sovereignty to spread disinformation.
“Pan-Africanism is a legitimate movement, but Prigojin has co-opted activists to advance Russian interests on the continent; they are influencers who advocate for Moscow to take a hand in African affairs and shape opinions favorable to the Kremlin’s political goals.”
Once on the margins of the public agenda, Prigojin began to make several speeches on the subject throughout the year. On the coup in Burkina Faso, for example, he praised the action of the military: “The people were under the yoke of the colonialists, who supported bandit gangs and caused a lot of pain to the local population.”
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