IACSP Journal

Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International

THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW. Presentation ceremony of foreign ambassadors’ letters of credentials. Ambassador of the Republic of Mali Brehima Coulibaly presents his letter of credentials to the President of Russia. CC BY 4.0
REGIONAL AFRICA 

Mali, New Theatre Of Russian-French Rivalry, Akhbar al-Aan TV, 23 Sep 2021

admin 1020 Views 0 Comments

By Olivier Guitta

Russia has made a clear choice to expand its influence in Africa. In the past three years, it has yielded extraordinary results, moving into about twenty African countries. Logically it has ruffled some feathers and especially French ones. Indeed, Russia has increased its influence in ex-French colonies, setting up a proxy war with France that has been escalating by the day. The latest theatre of that war is Mali, the crucial and troubled country in the Sahel.

In early September, the Malian Defense Minister visited Moscow -where he lived and studied for one year. Two weeks later, the Private Military Company (PMC), the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, is reportedly closing in on a massive deal to send a 1,000-strong force to shore up the junta in Mali. Wagner would earn $10.8M a month for training troops and protecting the regime’s senior figures. There is likely to be also access to natural resources, very likely, gold. If the deal were to be inked, it would constitute a huge geopolitical defeat not only for France, but actually for the West. On the other hand, it would be huge boon for the jihadists present in Mali.

The UK which has sent 300 troops in Gao as part of a UN peacekeeping mission, led by France, is very concerned by the likelihood of Wagner intervening in Mali. Seconding this opinion is Germany that also has soldiers in Mali. France that has the most to lose, has logically threatened to remove all its troops from Mali if Wagner comes...