Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso Announce Satellite Deal with Russia to Strengthen Security

Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have announced a deal with Russia in light of acquiring at least two surveillance satellites and telecoms to defend their countries against security threats.

This was disclosed on Tuesday following a meeting held in Mali’s capital, Bamako, on Monday.

At the meeting, Col. Assimi Goïta, President of Mali and current chair of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), discussed the deal with Ilya Tarasenko, the head of Russian space company Glavkosmos, along with officials from Niger and Burkina Faso.

According to Mali’s Finance Minister, Alousséni Sanou, the deal aimed to strengthen border and national security in all three countries of the AES.

Aside from security purposes, the satellite provision is expected to help the countries monitor and respond to floods, droughts, fires and other emergencies, says Sanou.

This move, however, seeks to tackle Islamist insurgency in these countries since Mali sent France troops and Niger sent US troops out of their countries.

After the exit of France and the US, the three nations withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), it’s head and current President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, threatened to intervene militarily in Niger, following a coup in that country last year. The attempt was foiled.

Following their exit and in agreement to form a defence pact, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso formed the Alliance of the Sahel States (AES) in September 2023, and with the increasing alignment with Russia to strengthen their country’s security apparatus.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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