External Non-State Actors as a Source of Instability in West Africa: Hezbollah and Wagner/Africa Corps

October 2025

Also published in Counter Extremism Project
Russian fighters with the Wagner Group pay tribute to colleagues killed in Mali in 2023 - source: Reuters
About the Authors
Matthew Levitt
Matthew Levitt

Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow and director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute.

John Lechner

John Lechner is a writer, researcher, and independent journalist concentrating on the politics of Russia, Turkey, and African nations.

Articles & Testimony

An in-depth report on the corrosive role that Russian and Hezbollah elements are playing in Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and other West African states.

Both Hezbollah and Russia’s Wagner Group/Africa Corps are entrenched causes of insecurity in West Africa. Therefore, any new strategic planning for the region must take their influence into account. Of course, each of these malign actors presents a distinct set of challenges, both to the region itself and to any engagement by stakeholders in Germany or other European countries. This paper addresses these challenges individually, presenting tailored recommendations for each...

Download the full paper on the Counter Extremism Project website.

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