Mapping Conflict: Russia’s Growing Influence in Africa

In less than a decade, Russia has reshaped its presence on the African continent and established its hold over military, political and economic matters through its mercenary groups, first Wagner and then Africa Corps.

In this video, Crisis Group’s Deputy Program Director for Africa, Pauline Bax, explains how Moscow utilises military assistance and manipulates social media to ramp up its influence in African countries, particularly Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Libya, and Mali, and how it seeks to benefit from strategically located military infrastructure and key natural resources. Despite the short-term solutions offered by Russian military groups, the trade-offs are big and often come at the expense of human rights violations and freedom of expression, while risks of regional instability increase.

In the “Mapping Conflict” series, Crisis Group experts use satellite imagery to examine developments in local and regional conflicts.

Satellite imagery provided by Mapbox.