Mercenaries have played a vital role in the modern history of Africa from the independent movements of the 1960s up until the 2020s. Broadly the mercenary actions can be broken into two types of related actors, which can then be examined regionally.

2022年4月28日 · Mercenaries have become increasingly influential as states across Africa find their armies unable to limit the widening reach of armed groups. This undated photograph handed out by French...

2022年1月20日 · Mercenary forces were cited as a threat to African nations, especially in regions with rich natural resources. President Obiang said his nation became a mercenary target after oil was discovered in the 1990s, adding that there had been five attempts to invade Equatorial Guinea using mercenaries.

2024年9月25日 · In 2022, an estimated 1 200 to 2 000 mercenaries supported Central African Republic (CAR) armed forces. Mali has followed a similar approach, with nearly 1 645 contractors as of April 2023. The presence of mercenaries has also been recorded in Mozambique, Sudan and Burkina Faso.

2024年6月6日 · Moscow has aggressively expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the private security company Wagner and its likely successor, Africa Corps, with Russian mercenaries taking up roles from protecting African leaders to helping states fight extremists.

2022年4月15日 · Foreign private military companies are being deployed in more and more crisis-ridden countries in Africa. But many mercenaries do not shy away from crimes and human rights violations, according...

2020年5月28日 · Mercenaries have three main advantages over regular armies. First, they give plausible deniability. Using them, a government such as Russia’s can sponsor military action abroad while pretending...

2019年2月7日 · African governments have for decades been concerned with the use and impact of mercenaries, and for good reason. Mercenaries were used throughout the decolonization period and Cold War, starting in the 1960s in what is now the Democratic Republic of …

Plenty of debate has occurred around the blight of mercenaries – freelance soldiers for hire – especially those operating in Africa. They have been blamed for everything ranging from inciting further conflict and committing human rights violations, to illicit arms sales and neo-imperialism.

2024年10月9日 · Countries are increasingly drawing on them to help deal with violent extremists and other internal conflicts. Africa’s past experience with mercenaries saw small groups – between 50 and 500 per intervention – assigned to short and sporadic missions. Now numbers are steadily rising.