logo
What should Europe do as Russia gains influence in Africa's Sahel?

What should Europe do as Russia gains influence in Africa's Sahel?

Euronews17-04-2025

ADVERTISEMENT
'Vladimir Putin came to fight in Africa in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s,' Cameroonian influencer Franklin Nyamsi tells his hundreds of thousands of followers in a video shared across multiple platforms.
'He participated in the fight against Western imperialism. I hope you know that.'
There is no evidence that the Russian president visited Africa in that period, let alone fought colonial powers. Born in 1950, Putin was also a child for most of that time.
Yet these facts have not stopped disinformation from spreading like wildfire, especially in former French colonies around the Sahel, where the Kremlin has been using increasingly insidious methods to play on anti-colonial sentiments in order to pursue its interests.
The director of Research at the US Defence Department's Africa Centre, Dr Joseph Siegle, argues Moscow's approach is multi-pronged, and media play an essential part.
Speaking to Euronews from Washington, Siegle explained that 'in environments where there isn't an established set of trusted media outlets you get an explosion of unregulated, unfiltered social media,' which he says is especially prevalent in the Sahel.
According to the UN, the region of the Sahel comprises 10 central and west African nations, with 400 million people who call it home. Of these 10, eight were colonised by France, and almost all only gained independence in the 1960s.
French is widely spoken across all of them, meaning francophone commentators and influencers' reach and messaging often easily crosses the borders between the region's countries that France imposed in previous centuries.
However, colonialism is no longer a hot topic, and Siegle contends that colonial legacies have largely faded from political life. 'I'd like to remind people that colonialism ended 60 years ago … It wasn't part of recent election discourse,' he said.
If anything, for many of the countries' regimes, Europe remained the preferred partner as they progressed on their sovereign paths, according to Seigle.
"When you had democratically leaning governments, albeit weak governments … there were good relations with Europe," he explained.
These relations were strong, especially with France itself, which maintained deep political and disproportionate trade ties with its former colonies in Africa, under a somewhat hazy policy known as 'Françafrique'.
It also stationed thousands of troops across multiple bases in the Sahel. This number multiplied in 2013 when France and other European countries sent reinforcements to combat a series of extremist insurgencies in the region.
Seigle holds that it was a largely positive relationship, which was only recently upended by a series of coups that installed pro-Moscow juntas across the region.
Things fall apart
However, it isn't that simple in the eyes of prominent Chadian human rights lawyer and activist Delphine Djiraibe, who believes the rise of Russia is inherently linked to deep-rooted anger felt towards France in the region and Paris' historical support for governments she believes were anything but democratic.
ADVERTISEMENT
Over a patchy phone call with Euronews from the capital N'Djamena — where Djiraibe said power and mobile network cuts were increasingly common — the advocate explained that 'colonisation may have changed form, but we have remained under the yoke of France until practically today.'
'We've felt it in a very bitter way.'
Djiraibe pointed out that Chad maintains a French legal code, as do most of the other francophone countries in the region —at least in some form — but these codes aren't respected within the region or by Paris.
'France is always presented as the country of human rights,' she lamented, 'but when extrajudicial executions are commonplace, when populations are subjected to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment … France does not stand up."
ADVERTISEMENT
"Not only does it not stand up, but it supports the dictatorial powers that suppress the populations.'
French President Emmanuel Macron pays respects to the coffin of the late Chadian president Idriss Deby during the state funeral in N'Djamena, 23 April 2021
AP Photo/Christophe Petit Tesson
As an example, she cites French President Emmanuel Macron's speech at the funeral of former Chadian President Idris Déby in 2021, in which he referred to the late authoritarian leader as a 'brave friend' before praising Déby's son and political heir, Mahamat, for bringing 'stability'.
Yet, within a year, relations with Chad and across the region frosted over. France withdrew its 1,000-strong force from Mali in August 2022, and by the end of 2023 both Burkina Faso and Niger also forced out the French military presence.
Related
Macron calls West African leaders 'ungrateful' for not recognising fight against Islamist terrorists
Chad ends defence pact with France nixing its military presence
Then, in a dramatic diplomatic spat that broke out in late 2024, Macron claimed that the region had never 'thanked' France for deploying troops there. The younger Déby demanded that France withdraw from Chad as well — and Françafrique had the rug wholly pulled underneath it.
ADVERTISEMENT
At the same time, the Kremlin quickly emerged from the shadows of social media campaigns and was ushered through the gates of various presidential palaces as the new global power best friend in town.
From Russia with love?
In a video published last month, Swiss-Cameroonian internet personality Nathalie Yamb shared a clip of former French Ambassador to Mali Nicolas Normand claiming the region 'absolutely needs partnerships,' while warning that 'Russia isn't providing it with any help, except military aid to ... form a praetorian guard for the juntas.'
As he says this, a man appears in the bottom right corner of Yamb's video, making a Pinocchio nose action. Yamb then comes on screen to criticise the comments and to say she would 'bury the urban myth' about Russia.
However, Siegle says this is precisely what Moscow does, having literally filled out the presidential guard corps of multiple Sahelian de facto leaders with its own muscle.
ADVERTISEMENT
Flowers are laid at the statue of Russian mercenaries as a tribute to the late Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Bangui, Central African Republic, 5 March 2024
AP Photo/Sam Mednick
Until recently, these military deployments were largely made up of Kremlin-backed private military companies (PMCs), under the umbrella of the notorious Wagner Group of mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Former Georgian Ambassador to the EU Natalie Sabanadze told Euronews that this gave Russia 'plausible deniability,' which was important when Moscow was still trying to court international diplomatic favour.
However, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, much of this pretence dissipated. Then, when Prigozhin led Wagner mercenaries in revolt a year later in Ukraine — and was subsequently killed in a plane crash, which many international observers blame on the Kremlin — Sabanadze says Russia removed what little arms-length autonomy PMCs had in the Sahel.
Although there was a public outpouring of grief in some Sahelian societies over Prigozhin's death, this never translated into a broader questioning of relations with Moscow.
ADVERTISEMENT
Moscow's popularity unchallenged
Yamb has been largely discredited as a Kremlin stooge who acted as an "independent observer" for Russia during sham elections in occupied parts of Ukraine in 2022.
Yet she and others, like Franklin Nyamsi — along with those backing them in the Kremlin — have effectively harnessed anti-European sentiments to push Moscow's agenda, which includes controlling lucrative natural resources in various mines worth billions.
Also, Seigle explains it fits into a wider narrative of 'Russia having many partners and allies and Europe and the West losing influence,' both of these factors have only been exacerbated by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent fallout.
Sabanadze told Euronews that, coming from a former USSR satellite state, 'One of my main jobs was to somehow convince Europeans that we knew how to deal with Russia.'
ADVERTISEMENT
Yet Sabanadze, who is now a senior fellow at Chatham House, a think tank focusing on Russia's global influence, recalls comments she received from some in Brussels, which she sees as emblematic of Europe's hubris regarding Russian threats.
Central African Republic opposition parties demonstrate in the streets of Bangui to protest the government and its use of Wagner mercenaries, 4 April 2025
Jean Fernand Koena/AP Photo
'They'd say, 'You guys are paranoid. You have your historical baggage. You just can't get over it.''
'Russia's anti-colonialist narrative towards the Global South in general, including Africa, has been pretty much unchallenged,' Sabanadze explained, allowing Moscow to not only oust French and EU forces there but actually entrench itself too.
'Russians are genuinely popular in many of these places. They're not seen as horrible mercenaries that come to exploit the resources, kill people and who have been engaged in horrible massacres,' Sabanadze said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Related
In Africa, Russia seeks to retain its superpower credentials
France's military forced out of Sahel region as it closes base in Chad
Siegle and Djiraibe both doubt Moscow's loyalty in return.
'I think it's more transactional,' Seigle said. 'The Russian forces are not there to fight the jihadists, they're protecting the regime and various mining sites.'
Sabanadze agreed. 'They like their operations there to be cheap and to be particularly beneficial to them,' she added.
'We never address the root problem'
Yet, signs of discontent with the Russians are already on the horizon.
ADVERTISEMENT
In early April, anti-Russian protests broke out across the neighbouring Central African Republic, which Siegle labelled 'the poster child' of Moscow's influence in Africa due to the thousands of Russian Wagner troops there.
While Russian losses in its ongoing war in Ukraine and the downfall of its ally Bashar Al-Assad in Syria have paradoxically pushed Moscow to try and extend its global reach, they also provided vulnerabilities which could allow Europe to re-enter the fray.
However, both Siegle and Djiraibe warned against a short-term approach that would lead to simply courting the very regimes that turned to the Kremlin for help.
'Certainly, that has certain short-term appeal,' Siegle admits. "It's better to have the juntas than to have jihadists in power, but it doesn't address any of the underlying sources of instability in these countries.'
ADVERTISEMENT
Namely, a lack of financial stability and support for civil society groups.
'We never address the root problem,' Djiraibe concurs, calling for less intervention on all sides.
'There's no need to come and dominate. If we were left to manage itself, we would be capable of electing leaders and sanctioning them when necessary. The mechanism is there.'
As the interview drew to a close and the connection again faltered, Djiraibe reflected on her decades-long career and how her country and those around it had changed, or not.
ADVERTISEMENT
'For more than 50 years, weapons have spoken for us under the logic that 'if we have the weapons, we subdue the populations, we burst into the villages, we kill''.
Despite this, she remained hopeful. 'We're not going to continue to use the language of weapons indefinitely,' she exclaimed.
'We must take courage. We'll continue to fight, to support our populations and reach higher, because we cannot replace one coloniser with another.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump says US personnel moved as Iran tensions mount
Trump says US personnel moved as Iran tensions mount

France 24

time30 minutes ago

  • France 24

Trump says US personnel moved as Iran tensions mount

Trump also reiterated that he would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, amid mounting speculation that Israel could strike Tehran's facilities. Iran threatened Wednesday to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out. A US official had earlier said that staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while there were reports that personnel were also being moved from Kuwait and Bahrain. "Well they are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place," Trump told reporters in Washington when asked about the reports of personnel being moved. "We've given notice to move out and we'll see what happens." Trump then added: "They can't have a nuclear weapon, very simple. We're not going to allow that." Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. The two sides were due to meet again in coming days. Trump had until recently expressed optimism about the talks, but said in an interview published Wednesday that he was "less confident" about reaching a nuclear deal. Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails. The US president says he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran's nuclear facilities to give the talks a chance, but has increasingly signaled that he is losing patience. Iran however warned it would respond to any attack. "All its bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries," Iran's Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail. 'Suffer more losses' "God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed," the minister said, adding that the US side "will suffer more losses" if it came to conflict. The United States has multiple bases in the Middle East, with the largest located in Qatar. In January 2020, Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq housing American troops in retaliation for the US strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani days before at the Baghdad airport. Dozens of US soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries. Amid the escalating tensions, the UK Maritime Trade Operations, run by the British navy, also advised ships to transit the Gulf with caution. Iran and the United States have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a "non-negotiable" right and Washington calling it a "red line." Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Last week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear program and that Washington "cannot have a say" on the issue. During an interview with the New York Post's podcast "Pod Force One," which was recorded on Monday, Trump said he was losing hope a deal could be reached. "I don't know. I did think so, and I'm getting more and more -- less confident about it. They seem to be delaying and I think that's a shame. I am less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago," he said. Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. burs-dk/jgc © 2025 AFP

New Russian bomber spotted in Mali as Wagner Group leaves the country
New Russian bomber spotted in Mali as Wagner Group leaves the country

France 24

time4 hours ago

  • France 24

New Russian bomber spotted in Mali as Wagner Group leaves the country

The Wagner Group, a paramilitary organisation founded in 2014 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the time, has been supporting the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) in their fight against jihadists in the Sahel region since 2022. However, a short-lived rebellion by the group against the Russian government in June 2023, followed by Prigozhin's death in a plane crash two months later, sealed the mercenaries' estrangement from the Putin administration. The same year, the Russian Ministry of Defence established another paramilitary group, known as the Africa Corps (or Russian Expeditionary Corps). The group is recruiting for missions abroad and is expected to take over from Wagner Group in Mali. On June 6, the Wagner Group announced on its Telegram account channel the completion of its "main mission" in Mali. The group boasted of having "eliminated thousands of militants and their commanders who had terrorised the civilian population for years", and claimed to have "helped local patriots build a strong and disciplined army". Rumours have been circulating on pro-government accounts in Mali for several months suggesting that Su-24M jets have been delivered to the Malian army. The Su-24M is a two-seat, variable-sweep wing tactical bomber. It entered service in 1983, but has never been deployed in Mali. A Su-24M spotted in a satellite image at Bamako airport It turns out the aircraft has been in Mali since at least April 14, 2025. A satellite image taken on that day by Maxar, and provided to FRANCE 24, shows a Su-24M bomber parked on the tarmac in the military section of the Bamako airport. Its folded wings and fuselage shape make the aircraft easily recognisable. Speculation about its deployment had been rife for months, fuelled by numerous rumours (more on that below). But why is there so much interest and misinformation surrounding an old Soviet-made aircraft? This question is especially pertinent given that the Malian army already operates another Soviet-era ground-attack aircraft, the Su-25. What makes the Su-24M's arrival particularly significant, however, is that it arrives alongside a new unit of Russian paramilitary forces, the Africa Corps. The group is set to replace the Wagner Group which announced its departure on Friday, June 6. Africa Corps: Russian pilots behind the Su-24M In a May 20 social media post, the Africa Corps, a group with close ties to the Russian Ministry of Defence, published photos clearly showing the cockpit of a Su-24M. Yet, the Africa Corps does not mention Mali in its statement. The group merely states that the Su-24M jets are 'carrying out bombing strikes against camps of militants of terrorist organisations in an African country'. Africa Corps is also known to be deployed in Mali's neighbouring countries, Burkina Faso and Niger. The arrival of the aircraft coincides with an ongoing change in Russian command in Mali. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group had previously overseen operations in the northern part of the country, but the arrival of new convoys of military equipment has been documented in recent months. These convoys may also be linked to the deployment of the Africa Corps group. 'Russia wants to strike harder' Russia's deployment of Su-24M aircraft signals an intent to increase its aerial bombardment firepower and intensity, according to Red Samovar, an analyst specialising in Russian aviation: Clearly, this deployment indicates Russia wants to strike harder by deploying the Su-24M, which has a higher ammunition capacity than the Su-25 [Editor's note: which the FAMA are currently using]. Given the situation in Mali, it's highly probable Russia has deployed the Su-24M to enable more massive strikes using both unguided and guided bombs, compared to the Su-25. The Su-24M can carry up to seven tons of weaponry [unlike the Su-25, which has a four-ton capacity]. This enables a broader range of mission capabilities. The Su-24M is a tactical bomber designed in the 1970s for very low-altitude flights to penetrate enemy air defences. This deployment suggests a recycling of Russian aircraft no longer needed in Ukraine, where they've been replaced by the Su-34. These older aircraft can still be useful for several more years in less 'demanding' environments. False rumours anticipating a very real deployment For several months, images allegedly showing the Su-24 bomber in Mali have been circulating on social media. For instance, this video shared on X on April 28 by an account favourable to the Malian government, purportedly shows a Su-24 aircraft flying over Bamako. Although this video features a Su-24M aircraft, it was not filmed in Mali, but rather in Russia. The footage was published on YouTube in October 2020 on the RUplanes channel, which is dedicated to Russian military aviation. The video circulating on Malian accounts simply adds a zoom effect but uses the exact same content as the Russian source. Another video, shared on X by another account supportive of Mali's transitional authorities on May 22, also claimed to show a Su-24M aircraft in service with the Malian army. However, the video does not show a Su-24M, but rather an L-39 Albatros, an aircraft in service with the Malian air force. We cannot rule out that the images were taken in Malian airspace, but it is impossible to geolocate the video. Further images of the Sukhoi Su-24 have reportedly been captured from the vicinity of Bamako airport. Among these, a photo dated March 26 appears more credible than previous videos. According to analysts specialising in Sahelian armies, this photo is believed to be a screenshot from a TikTok video taken on the outskirts of Bamako airport. However, the low quality of the image makes it impossible to find the original video and confirm whether the Su-24M was already deployed as early as March 2025.

French Senate approves ‘anti-fast-fashion' bill chiefly targeting Shein, Temu
French Senate approves ‘anti-fast-fashion' bill chiefly targeting Shein, Temu

Fashion Network

time5 hours ago

  • Fashion Network

French Senate approves ‘anti-fast-fashion' bill chiefly targeting Shein, Temu

Louwagie said that the government will notify the European Commission of this bill even before the end of the joint parliamentary committee work that will start soon, and that the government will also work on the decrees regulating the bill's application, and notably define the thresholds that will formally identify an operator as 'ultra-express' or 'ultra-fast-fashion'. Before the vote, the representatives of the various Senate groups spoke to explain their positions on the vote. An opportunity to underline for some the positive amendments made to the bill, and its weaknesses for others. Many senators welcomed the removal of a provision of the 2022 anti-waste law on unsold goods, which allowed ultra-fast-fashion operators to benefit from tax allowances when donating unsold goods to charitable associations. The re-introduction of a blanket ban on advertising for ultra-express fashion operators was also appreciated. 'This law does not prohibit, it protects by defining what is abnormal. It protects our environment and that of our children. It protects the economy and our textile industry. We can be happy we are giving ourselves the means to achieve our goals,' said Nicole Bonnefoy, representing the Socialist, Ecologist and Republican group, adding that 'we welcome the re-introduction of article three, which will form a negotiation basis for requesting an amendment to the European e-commerce directive, so that these restrictive measures can be made to apply to companies based for example in Ireland.' Although the amendments have been approved by the groups, several points still prompted strong reservations. The introduction of the term 'ultra-express fashion' has led to much teeth-gnashing among environmental associations and sustainable fashion brands, which believe that the aim of fencing in all types of fast-fashion practices is no longer being pursued. Jacques Fernique of Ecologist group Solidarité et territoires insisted on this aspect, emphasising that the various laws will not enter into force for many months yet, since they have to be examined again by the European Commission and the joint parliamentary committee, something which won't happen before the autumn. 'Today's vote is a relatively positive step. Shein, Temu and Amazon are pushing to the extreme a business model that destroys local jobs and our city centres' appeal. But both ultra-express fast fashion and fast fashion adopt the same approach, selling transient, low-cost disposable products. This bill is targeting the ultra-fast fashion explosion, but we can't see why the penalties shouldn't potentially apply to everyone.' Fernique is campaigning for provisions that would 'push back against the kind of disposable fashion sold by foreign platforms but also by French and European companies. It's sustainable fashion that we ought to promote, regardless of the nationality of who sells it.' An issue which the majority of senators did not endorse. 'This bill has set a course. It doesn't pretend to solve everything, but it intends to draw boundaries,' said Valente Le Hir, who is affiliated with the Republican group and is the bill's rapporteur in the Senate. She has advocated for the middle ground in various issues, asserting that the Senate wants to draw up a 'stronger bill, not a travesty of it. We have said it's time to limit the excesses of express fashion without penalising those who are working towards greater sustainability in the industry. [The bill] has distinguished, within a poorly understood sector, what constitutes planned overconsumption and what constitutes sustainable innovation. We've clarified the target. We've drawn a clear line between what we want to regulate, ultra-express fast fashion as embodied by platforms like Shein and Temu, and what we want to preserve, in other words affordable, locally rooted fashion that generates jobs in France, that anchors our communities, creates connections and boosts local industry.' After the government will have sent the text over to the European Commission, the latter will have three to four months to comment. And while French MPs and senators will be working within the joint parliamentary committee, the Commission's analysis and observations will play a key role in the bill's final wording and provisions. In the meantime, the lobbying efforts that have been ongoing for months are set to continue.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store