Niamey [Niger], August 3: While the West is losing influence, Russia has gradually filled in the political and security vacuum in the Sahel, one of the most unstable regions in the world.
The situation in Niger remains tense after the country's military forces overthrew the government of President Mohamed Bazoum last week. After the coup, supporters of the military junta in Niger attacked the French Embassy, burning the French national flag while waving the Russian flag.
Along with geopolitical upheavals in the region, the political upheaval in Niger shows more clearly the competition for influence between Moscow and the West in Africa in general and the Sahel region in particular.
Western influence weakens
The Sahel is the name for a strip of land located south of the Sahara Desert, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east of Africa. The region has frequently seen political unrest with the rise of jihadist groups believed to be linked to terrorism in recent years.
The West, especially France, the former "motherland" of many Sahel countries, has tried to establish influence here through the war on terror. French troops have been stationed in Mali since 2013 and have since expanded their garrison to other countries, including Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad, during Operation Barkhane. At the height of the campaign, France had about 5,100 troops stationed in the region, according to an article published on the website of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP, a Washington DC-based research organization).
But despite those efforts, the Sahel remains one of the most dangerous regions in the world, with the number of attacks against civilians in the region increasing fivefold between 2017 and 2020, according to an analysis compiled by Reuters. Posted by the Middle East Institute (MEI, based in Washington DC). The aftermath of the security crisis in the Sahel, especially in Mali and Burkina Faso, has led to a wave of "anti-French" in the region.
Relations between France and Mali and Burkina Faso have deteriorated rapidly after successive coups in these two countries between 2020 and 2022. After nearly a decade, France withdrew from Mali in August 2022. In February 2023, Burkina Faso announced the end of the French military presence in the country.
Relations between the United States and the two Sahel countries have also deteriorated significantly. After the coups, Washington suspended Mali and Burkina Faso's access to the US market and passed legislation banning military assistance to the two countries, according to CEIP.
Russia tries to fill the void
The fact that protesters waved Russian flags and burned French flags after the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger is a sign that Moscow has somewhat succeeded in turning the defeat of the West to its advantage.
"Russia is exploiting the ongoing political and security crises , and is in fact waging an 'undeclared war' with the West in the Sahel," according to The Africa Report.
According to The Washington Post, since at least 2018, the private Russian military company Wagner has been present in the Sahel to help quell the uprisings. In the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Libya and now Mali, Russian mercenaries have been operating in the field alongside local forces.
Western officials are also concerned that Wagner is seeking to establish a presence in Burkina Faso and Chad. After France withdrew its troops earlier this year, Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambela of Burkina Faso said that Russia was "a reasonable option" for an alternative, although Moscow has never acknowledged any contact with Wagner.
Since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Moscow has been trying to strengthen ties with Africa. At the recent summit in St.Petersburg (Russia), Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to provide free tens of thousands of tons of grain to African countries. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has visited seven African countries so far this year, including several Sahel countries.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
