the boots of the group Wagner emphasize Financial. It is one of the African regions where they are strongest, and for now, nothing indicates that this will change. Neither after the last coup attempt of the leader of these gangs. Vladimir Putin. Shortly after this fight, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that the paramilitary group would continue its operations in Mali. This country has been engulfed in a spiral of violence for more than two decades, with terrorist and criminal groups controlling much of the north. In recent years, the Malian government has chosen to open its doors to these Russian mercenaries to deal with insecurity. France anyone UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
“This crisis between Putin and Wagner need not affect continuity in Africa.defends Bea Mesa, an expert. beachProfessor and LASPAD researcher at Saint-Louis Gaston Berger University (Senegal). He explains that it’s still too early to know the effects they might have in Mali. The crisis between Wagner and Vladimir Putin however, he points out that a key factor is that the mercenaries do not receive funding from the Kremlin for their operations in Mali: “I think the Wagner operations in Africa are not paid for by Russia. Mali pays indirectly through Russia. its local sources.” .
The entry of these Russian mercenaries into Mali caused a shift in the current paradigm: “Somehow cornering France or pushing it away from a dominant place and Russia placed in a hegemonic placeIt should be noted that in 2013 the French Army entered the country at the request of the government of Mali to jointly stop the advance of various armed groups towards the capital. Serval OperationIt ended in July 2014. The existence of the tricolor flag continued on the ground with a new operation called. barkhaneBy 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he will withdraw.
Nearly 10 years of military operations have caused significant wear and tear in the country, levels of insecurity and the socioeconomic situation have not improved, and there has been increasing public opposition to the French Army. Mesa considers the intervention a “disaster” Because “It created more distrust”. The departure of the French and the arrival of Wagner’s mercenaries accelerated after the coup led by the Malian army in 2021. “For the first time in Mali’s contemporary history, we have seen a popularly supported coup.” Mesa explains.
According to the expert, there was a significant social protest against the previous government in 2020, causing the military to feel legitimate to break with a traditional and classical actor like France. The change of power in Bamako hastened this political turn. “Mali is a revolutionary state in Africa because they have broken the shackles of traditional power and felt they needed to reclaim their sovereignty that had been eroded by international intervention,” Mesa says.
In this game of interest, Russia has one advantage over France or other Western states: it has no colonial past. Next to you russian influence In this country, it dates back to the time of African anti-colonial movements. After independence, this cooperation continued, especially in military matters. “From supporting national liberation movements to bilateral military cooperation, direct intervention of Russia through its mercenariesso-called Wagners”, argues Table.
Wagner’s shadow in Mali
“Russia is acting together with everyone” arbitrarinesswith their Wagners, without considering respect for human rights‘, argues Mesa. Despite stating that ‘it wasn’t like that before’ blue helmetseven those who persecute the French troops”. These mercenaries attacking unrelated civilians “The people of Mali already know this” with a spiral of violence. This presence of mercenaries and Russia, extraction of gold and other natural resources. Being in Mali, as in France and the USA, is one of their main interests.
“We are currently living a kind of cold war in the sahelWhere African states are positioned in favor of the United States with allies like France against other states that prefer to diversify or simply diversify. break a classic partnership and join other strategic partners like Russia“, argues Mesa. He explains that Russia is increasingly present on the African continent and will continue this dynamic. It is something we have seen before in the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso or Libya.
On the other hand, although France and the USA have lost their influence in Mali, they continue to dominate the Sahel region. east west block handed over all its military power to Niger and also continues to maintain close alliances with Chad, “so a The fragmented Sahel, which has become the laboratory of international order where every player is positioned in one way or another,” Mesa concludes.