russia Is Building an Anti-Western Information Belt in the Sahel Through Bribing Media and a Network of Influence Agents

moscow is turning the Sahel into a springboard for geopolitical influence. According to an investigation by the French organization Forbidden Stories, the operations are being carried out by a proxy network called The Company, linked to the rf’s foreign intelligence service.

The ultimate goal is to form an anti-Western belt stretching from Guinea on the Atlantic to Sudan on the Red Sea, encompassing Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Senegal, and Togo.

From June to October 2024 alone, the network recruited 11 agents and published over 700 commissioned pieces costing $250–700 per publication. Mali has been determined as a priority operational centre in the region.

The key tool is direct funding of newsrooms in exchange for content that mimics independent journalism. In November 2024, a journalist from the Central African Republic, E. Yalike, exposed the payment scheme – about $52 per piece – and after refusing to cooperate, received threats and was forced to leave the country. In March 2025, Chad’s judicial police detained Radio France Internationale correspondent O. Monodji and three local colleagues for publishing paid articles ($87–350 per article). In July, the case was closed, with the actions classified as a “good-faith error” resulting from manipulation by russian curators.

In parallel, the network is funding the recruitment of local opinion leaders and officials. In Togo, contacts with local figures cost nearly $5,500 – shortly thereafter, the country signed a military agreement with russia regarding personnel training and access to port infrastructure. Operations are coordinated by entities such as “russian houses”, which operate under the guise of cultural exchange.

The narrative dissemination strategy operates on several levels: initial placement in affiliated media; scaling up via bots and loyal social media accounts; creating the illusion of public support; and legitimization within political discourse.

The next stage is to promote the model to West African coastal states with access to key logistics hubs. The first signs of resistance are already emerging: Angola has announced increased counteraction to large-scale disinformation campaigns.