Russia expands presence in Africa’s Sahel region at the cost of France

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, January 25

Russia is back in the Sahel region of Africa at the cost of the French. The first unit of 100 soldiers of the African Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense have reportedly arrived in Burkina Faso following the expulsion of the French troops. Burkina Faso’s leader Ibrahim Traore came to power after a coup in September 2022.

Fighters from Russia’s Wagner Group are already helping the neighbouring Mali and Niger to fight Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State jihadis after expelling French troops or putting on hold European defence cooperation missions.

With Mali, Russia has reached an agreement with the authorities, who also came to power in a coup, for the construction of West Africa’s largest gold refinery.

“This will allow us to not only control all gold production, but we will also be able to correctly apply all taxes and duties,” said Mali’s Finance Minister Alousséni Sanou. Canadian, Australian and British companies have been mainly active in this sector.

Niger’s PM Ali Lamine Zeine and Defence Minister General Salifu Modi earlier this month signed a military cooperation agreement in Moscow with the Russian Ministry of Defence.