The military regimes of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have signed a deal to procure telecommunications and surveillance satellite technology from Russia.
Ministers from the three West African countries met with Moscow’s aerospace agency Roscosmos in Bamako earlier this week.
Mali Finance Minister Alousséni Sanou said that the acquisition of the technology would boost border and national security, secure military communications, and improve disaster monitoring and response among the Sahel countries.
Additionally, the ministers highlighted how the project could improve their communication infrastructure, expanding television and radio availability as well as internet and telephone services in each country’s remote and underdeveloped areas.
Security Issues in the Sahel Region
A total of six coups d’état have occurred in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso since 2020 as these former French colonies face threats from separatists and jihadists.
Their military juntas justify the power grab with the civilian government’s historical challenges in preserving national security. However, the violence persists.
Just this month, an Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group claimed a deadly attack at Mali’s international airport while militants ambushed Niger’s forces.
Meanwhile, a civilian massacre took place in Burkina Faso in August, underscoring the ongoing security crisis.
Since rising to power, the military regimes have moved away from France, requesting its troops withdraw and forging closer ties with Russia through military cooperation.
The three also created a confederation called the “Alliance of Sahel States” in September 2023, which grew from a mutual defense pact aimed at strengthening security across their shared borders.
Russia’s Influence in West Africa
As relations between the three West African countries and their former colonizer worsen due to France’s colonial legacy and inadequate responses to insurgencies, Russia has stepped in to fill the void.
The Sahel juntas have increasingly turned to Russia due to its active assistance in supplying troops and materiel to fight against insurgents without pressuring them for democratic reforms.
Policy Center for the New South Senior Fellow Rida Lyammouri told the Associated Press that Russia does not meddle in domestic affairs, unlike the West which pressures African coup leaders over democracy and other issues, as reported by PBS.
Meanwhile, Africa Center at the US Institute of Peace Vice President Joseph Sany criticized Russia’s misinformation campaigns against the West and its use of private military firms like Wagner Group or Sewa Security Services to forge government alliances.