While US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are resetting the global trading order, Africa is recalibrating its alliance with the West to move closer to Russia. In recent years, the Sahel region experienced deterioration in the security situation caused by the dwindling presence of the US and France. Capitalising in this shift, Russia has expanded its influence with the countries in the Sahel – the vast expanse south of the Sahara Desert. Earlier this month, the foreign ministers of the three West African junta-led countries – Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger – travelled to Moscow and met with the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov. The meeting was aimed at establishing strategic relations in areas of common interest. Following the meeting, Russia expressed its readiness to help strengthen the military and security forces of the three countries.
Conflicts in Africa | Sahel’s strategic drift towards Russia
