Defence and natural resources on the Moscow-Sahel table

Defence is currently the largest area of cooperation between Russia and the three Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, but things are ramping up, as covered by Maghrebi Week on August 25th.

A recent summit continued discussions under the so-called “AES-Russia consultations,” bringing the topics of counterterrorism, political coordination and investment into play with Moscow promising weapons, training and support against organised crime in return for access to natural resources.

Critics warn of growing dependency, citing human rights reports of Russia-linked massacres, yet the failure of Western counterterrorism efforts has left the region open to global influence and Moscow’s advance.

Maghrebi Week