Russia’s Policy of Recruiting Fighters and Female Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Russo-Ukrainian war, which began on February 24, 2022, quickly became internationalized. Russia and Ukraine were both quick to mobilize their allies in order to secure political and diplomatic support, as well as military and economic resources. But both belligerents also sought to recruit foreigners on a private basis to support their respective war efforts. This policy is global, extending from Latin America to the Far East. Sub-Saharan Africa, in this landscape, is of particular interest because it constitutes a vast and easily accessible recruitment pool, owing to high poverty rates in most countries of the region combined with a strong desire to emigrate.
This study on Russian recruitment policy in sub-Saharan Africa highlights the following elements:
- Russia is conducting a recruitment campaign for female labor and non-professional combatants in sub-Saharan Africa to support its war effort;
- This campaign is orchestrated by Russo-African networks and is particularly attractive to impoverished urban youth who view economic migration as a solution for a better life and understand that Europe is an increasingly inaccessible destination;
- Primarily driven by economic motivation, the recruited individuals are often deceived by false training and employment offers;
- These abusive and deceptive recruitments are akin to a form of human trafficking, the most tragic consequence of which is sending amateur mercenaries to the front as “cannon fodder”. For some, this migratory adventure in a foreign war is a one-way journey and, for many, the war is a trap that closes in on them;
- African governments are now beginning to react against this abusive recruitment policy. While most governments have oscillated between indifference and avoidance of the problem, since this fall investigations have been launched in several countries and the Kenyan and South African governments have requested that Moscow repatriate their citizens serving in the Russian army. Other African governments will have to follow their example, which will further expose Russian recruitment policy
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Russia’s Policy of Recruiting Fighters and Female Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Thierry VIRCOULON
Associate Research Fellow, Coordinator of the Observatory of Central and Southern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa Center, Ifri
Sub-Saharan Africa Center
Founded in 2007, Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa center produces an in-depth analysis of the African continent and its security, geopolitical, political and socio-economic dynamics (in particular the phenomenon of urbanization). The Center aims to be both, through various publications and conferences, a space for disseminating analyzes intended for the media and the public but also a decision-making tool for political and economic actors with regard to the continent.
The center produces analyses for various organizations such as the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the French Development Agency (AFD) and even for various private supports. Its researchers are regularly interviewed by parliamentary committees.
The organization of events of various formats complements the production of analyzes by bringing the different spheres of the public space (academic, political, media, economic and civil society) to meet and exchange analytical tools and visions of the continent. The Sub-Saharan Africa Center regularly welcomes political leaders from different sub-Saharan African countries.
Russia/Eurasia Center
Founded in 2005 within Ifri, the Russia/Eurasia Center conducts research and organizes debates on Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus. Its goal is to understand and anticipate the evolution of this complex and rapidly changing geographical area in order to enrich public discourse in France and Europe and to assist in strategic, political, and economic decision-making.
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