Russia continues its unstoppable advance in the Sahel. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed yesterday that Russian military personnel have been installed at an air base in Niger that hosts US forces. The gesture shows Moscow’s intention to replace Western influence in the Sahelian country without delay.
Just two weeks ago, Washington agreed to withdraw its last thousand soldiers in Niger after the military junta declared their presence “illegal”. The US has been collaborating in the anti-jihadist fight there since 2012. The Russian presence in Niger reaffirms an anti-Western wave that runs through the Sahel: in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, French troops were expelled months ago and replaced by “musicians” , as the Wagner mercenaries were known, now renamed the Africa Corps.
A senior US defense official, quoted by Reuters on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Russian troops (around 60 soldiers) are present, but not intermingled, with US forces at Air Force Base 101 , located next to the international airport of Niamey, the capital of Niger. Although the US Secretary of Defense downplayed the proximity of his men to the Russian military, and rejected that the latter can access its weaponry, the change of powers is a blow to Washington at a time when the military and diplomatic rivalry between the two countries is increasingly poisoned by the conflict in Ukraine. These types of Nigerien bases have given the Pentagon eyes in the sky in large areas of the Sahel and the Sahara, where various jihadist groups operate.
Before the military coup in July last year, Niger had been a key partner of France and the United States in the fight against the African franchises of Islamic State and al-Qaida, which control large areas and have killed thousands every year. The increase in terrorist violence is exponential: in 2016, 800 deaths were recorded in attacks, while in 2021 the figure rose to 6,000 deaths.
The advance of Russia, without colonialist baggage in the area, coincides with times of instability. In recent years there have been up to seven coups d’état on the continent, a figure higher than that of the entire previous decade, five of which in former French colonies: Mali (2020 and 2021), Guinea Conakry (2021), Burkina Faso ( 2022), Niger and Gabon (2023). Although each case has different particularities, they have in common the social frustration and the anti-French sentiment of the military juntas now in power.
Moscow’s ambition is not only geostrategic. Russia aims to control the multibillion-dollar source of income from African mines in the region. According to the Blood Gold report, produced by human rights organizations such as 21Democracy, the Kremlin has made $2.5 billion from the trade in gold extracted from Africa since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In recent months, Moscow has worked with the allied governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to rewrite several mining laws that invalidate deals with foreign companies, deemed unfair and illegal, and return control of the mines to the local military boards.
