The next step in the Kremlin's Africa strategy appears to be playing out in the continent's so-called "coup belt". In late January a post on the Telegram social media site announced the deployment of 100 Russian soldiers to the West African country of Burkina Faso. The post, linked to Russia's Ministry of Defence, said the troops were part of Moscow's new Africa Corps.
The organisation seems poised to assume most of the operations of the Wagner group, the Russian private military company that deployed mercenaries across Africa. "What we're looking at at this point is just a continuation of Wagner's presence in the form of the Africa Corps," said Isabella Currie, a La Trobe University researcher who has spent years studying Wagner.But Ms Currie says the group never went away after Prigozhin and key Wagner leaders were killed in a plane crash that raised suspicion of Kremlin involvement. "They were still very active in Africa. I think the process that we have seen across African states really continued as business as usua