On Feb. 20, Ivory Coast became the latest African nation to expel French troops, taking control of the last remaining French military base in the country.
This followed the departure of French forces from Chad, which had hosted them for nearly 70 years.
These moves marked the end of France’s military presence in the Sahel region, after the expulsions from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all ruled by military juntas.
Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby called the French withdrawal a “new dawn for a fully sovereign Chad.”
Nigerian Senator Shehu Sani, with 3.3 million followers on X, claimed, “The French forces are of no use,” contradicting the statistical data. Since France began withdrawing in 2022, conflict-related fatalities in the Sahel have risen by 65%, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).
Analysts point to Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns as key drivers of the shift away from France in the Sahel.
Bakary Sambe of the Timbuktu Institute told VOA that Russia has exploited anti-imperialist sentiment and historical colonial grievances to turn public opinion in Africa against France.
The military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, after expelling French forces, have increasingly aligned with Russia, which has deployed Wagner mercenaries across the region.
Human rights groups have accused Russian troops in Africa of committing abuses against civilians.
As French forces departed Chad, identical pro-Russian messages circulated on social media, often from influencers known for pushing anti-Western narratives.
X content creators including African Hub, Typical African and RT News India echoed the sentiment, framing the French withdrawal as the end of colonial exploitation, dating back to the French invasion in 1900.
All three accounts posted a video of French troops’ departure from Chad with identical wording that described it as France’s “final humiliation.”
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, affiliated with the U.S. Defense Department, notes that Russia is the primary source of disinformation in Africa, with over 80 documented campaigns targeting more than 20 countries. These campaigns leverage paid African influencers, digital avatars and manipulated media to fuel anti-Western sentiment.
The ”Russian embassies appear to have helped set up a network of ostensibly African grassroots front organizations,” the Africa Center said.
These disinformation campaigns “employ paid African influencers, digital avatars, and the circulation of fake and out-of-context videos and photographs. These messages copy-and-paste from and are amplified through multiple channels of Russian state-controlled media, radio, and official communications, creating the repetitive echo chambers in which disinformation narratives become rote,” the Africa Center reported.
The Africa Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO) tracks how digital tools shape public opinion in Africa, noting the influence of prominent pan-Africanist figures such as Kemi Seba and Nathalie Yamb.
The U.S. State Department said Seba was closely working with Russian political operatives linked to the now deceased oligarch and Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, seeking to influence elections in Madagascar.
Yamb has been involved in Russian-backed activities, including attending the 2019 Russia-Africa summit.
During the 2023 Niger coup, Russian content creators falsely claimed that ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) was planning an invasion of Niger, a narrative debunked by ECOWAS leaders.
Russia has also expanded its cultural influence in the Sahel, establishing “Russian Houses” across the region. In N’djamena, Chad’s capital, VOA’s Henry Wilkins visited one such “Russian House” last month.
Unlike Western cultural institutes, these Russian centers are involved in propaganda efforts, with some training journalists to spread anti-Western disinformation, Wilkins reported.
The Russian Embassy in Chad and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to VOA requests for comment.
Russia’s goal, according to Constantin Gouvy of the Clingendael Institute, is to replace Western powers such as France as the primary partner for the Sahel states using disinformation to destabilize the region.
Sambe of the Timbuktu Institute suggests that Russia’s actions in Africa are a form of retaliation against NATO, particularly France, for its role in European geopolitics.
