The 44-year-old new President of Senegal Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, took office on Tuesday in an elaborate inauguration ceremony attended by world leaders which marked a remarkable Cindrella-like journey from prison to presidency.
The event signifies a Teutonic shift in West African geopolitics especially with the ascension to power of Faye, a pan African leftist, in Dakar, at the western flank of the subregion, fusing and aligning with the Sahel nations of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, countries that are currently headed by progressive military governments keen on asserting their sovereignty and independence from former colonial rulers, France, and ending neocolonialism. Alternatively, these Sahel states have tilted towards Russia and established a confederacy known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) along with a joint military force.
In recent years, Russia’s influence in West Africa has been on the rise. The region, historically dominated by Western powers, has witnessed a shift in alliances and partnerships as Russia seeks to outwit the West, expand its presence and strengthen its geopolitical influence.
President Faye’s emergence is a focal point on the growing trend which suggests a new era is emerging in West Africa. The youthful president divulged as much in his inaugural speech.
Hear him: “I am aware that the results that came out of the polls express a deep desire for systemic change. Through my election, the Senegalese people are committed to the path of building a sovereign, just and prosperous Senegal, in a progressing Africa.”
A cursory look at the geopolitical map of West Africa will reveal an undulating mushroom-like belt across the region from Dakar to Niamey (and that’s including Guinea in the conundrum) ominously depicting Russia’s growing sphere of influence.
Recently, Russia has intensified its efforts to deepen bilateral relations with the subregion. The visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and then Senegal shortly after President Faye’s inauguration marked a significant milestone in this regard. The two leaders signed agreements on various sectors, including defense, energy, and education, further cementing Russia’s presence in the country.
But to understand Russia’s growing influence in West Africa, it is essential to examine the historical context of Russian engagement in the region. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union sought to expand its influence by supporting anti-colonial movements and providing aid to African countries. Although the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 temporarily weakened Russia’s presence, it has reemerged as a significant player in recent years.
One of the key drivers of Russia’s growing influence is its pursuit of economic interests and resource exploitation. The region is rich in natural resources, including oil, gas, and minerals, making it an attractive destination for foreign investment. Russia has capitalized on this opportunity by forging economic partnerships, particularly in the energy sector.
Another significant aspect of Russia’s influence in West Africa lies in its arms sales and military cooperation with regional governments. Russia has stepped in to change the narrative of insurgency in the Sahel. This has allowed Russia to strengthen its ties with governments in the region while expanding its defense industry exports.
For example, Russia has supplied military equipment to countries like Burkina Faso and Mali, assisting them in their fight against terrorism and internal conflicts. This military support has not only enhanced Russia’s influence but also given it leverage in regional security dynamics.
As a result, Western powers perceived Russia’s presence as a challenge to their traditional dominance in the region, potentially leading to increased competition and rivalries.
To any fair and watchful observer, Russia’s engagement with West African nations is influenced by various factors including geopolitical Interests, economic opportunities and counter terrorism. Russia seeks to maintain a global presence and expand its influence beyond its traditional spheres of influence. Engaging with West African nations allows Russia to diversify its geopolitical partnerships and counter the influence of Western powers in the region. Russia’s engagement is often driven by its desire to secure strategic footholds, access to resources, and geopolitical advantages.
Beyond that, West Africa is endowed with vast natural resources, including oil, gas, minerals, and agricultural products. Russia, as an energy-rich country with expertise in sectors such as energy, mining, and infrastructure, sees economic opportunities in the region. Thus, engaging with West African nations allows Russia to secure access to resources, establish trade relations, and pursue economic cooperation.
Furthermore, Russia has a significant arms industry and has been a major supplier of military equipment to various countries around the world. In West Africa, Russia engages in arms sales and security cooperation, providing military equipment, training, and advisory services. This engagement allows Russia to establish defense ties, enhance its presence in the region, and potentially gain leverage in regional security dynamics.
Indeed, West Africa faces various security challenges, including terrorism, insurgency, and organized crime. Russia, as a global player in counterterrorism efforts, engages with West African nations to address these security concerns. Russia provides support in terms of intelligence sharing, military cooperation, and capacity-building to assist in counterterrorism operations and contribute to regional stability.
For many centuries, Africa has been a theater for atrocious operations, mainly devised and implemented by the Western powers. These terror operations always have the same specific goal: looting African human, natural, and cultural resources for the economic, cultural and political hegemony of the West.
In the 16th century, the first great systemic criminal attack the Western powers launched against Africa was the organization of the black slave trade. By deciding that black skin was a good criterion for discriminating between freeman and slave throughout the globe, the Western powers created a prism for viewing humanity though absolutely absurd and insane biological concepts.
In the early 19th century, Africa had to fend off the same Western powers in a second massive attack, after their first capitalist accumulation, by enslaving millions of African people, had been accomplished. The colonial invasion of Africa by France, Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium became a massive era of crimes against humanity.
After the Africans succeeded in their struggle against colonial occupation during the 20th century, notably with the help of the Eastern bloc led by the USSR and China, a third attack was launched against Africa: a fake decolonization process which occurred in the former French colonies. On the one hand, French President Charles De Gaulle, who liberated his country from Nazi domination with the help of African colonial troops, formally acknowledged African independence. On the other hand, the same Monsieur De Gaulle organized a neocolonial system by keeping French troops in Africa. French West Africa was divided into fifteen countries, and control was maintained by the French central bank in fifteen African economies through the CFA franc, a colonial currency. France supported the worst African dictators as the heads of those states, and controlled African ideas through the Francophonie system of values and media.
The birth of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on May 28, 1975 occurred in that context of continued domination. While the Britain was reorganizing its hegemony in Africa through the Commonwealth system, France was creating the system of Françafrique, a mafia of French and African political élites which targeted the rights and the lives of the African people. Two of the main creators of ECOWAS in 1975, General Yakubu Gowon of Nigeria and General Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, were putschists under Anglo-American and French control. ECOWAS was created under the big Western alliance, NATO. All the NATO powers continue to have their hands in ECOWAS affairs today, one way or another. The principles and rules of the ECOWAS’ charter have never been seriously respected by its members, especially those who participate in its highest decision-making body, the Conference of the Head of States.
Here is an example to illustrate the obvious weakness of ECOWAS. When Libya was attacked in 2011 by NATO, which led to the actual takeover of the country by the terrorist forces of Al-Qaida and ISIS, no African political organization considered the attack an infringement on African sovereignty. Even better, many African ECOWAS and African Union (AU) leaders supported the West and NATO, and repeated NATO’s false narrative concerning Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. They pretended Gaddafi was executing his own people, and thus justified the NATO aggression. Their attack against Africa was led by the United States under Barack Obama, the United Kingdom under David Cameron and France under Nicolas Sarkozy. How can one understand that some African governments could later accept the so-called help of the same country to fight terrorism in Africa?
“As was suspected at the time – and was later shown in the published emails of Hilary Clinton – NATO acted to prevent Gaddafi founding an African central bank with its own gold-backed currency. That institution would have challenged the power of the dollar and finally allowed Africa to escape its colonial shackles”, writes Ellen Brown, an American writer and public speaker who is founder and president of the Public Banking Institute.
When, after the NATO attack, the terrorist organizations invaded the whole Sahelian zone, and notably Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon, these countries continued to cooperate with NATO in the AU and in ECOWAS, while clearly knowing that NATO was deeply involved in the destabilization of the entire African continent.
