Beyond press tours, local affiliates of African Initiative in West Africa’s Sahel region have been actively involved in community outreach efforts aimed at boosting Russia’s image.
The BBC has been monitoring African Initiative’s Telegram channels and Facebook pages, where videos, images, and reports of their work on the ground are shared.
In Burkina Faso, we found reports about a football competition where the Russian national anthem was played, “friendship lessons” in schools where students are taught about Russia, a competition of the Soviet martial art “sambo”, first aid workshops for citizens and policemen, and a graffiti festival where participants drew Russian President Vladimir Putin alongside Burkina Faso’s former leader Thomas Sankara, all sponsored by African Initiative.
Images also show African Initiative members distributing groceries to locals and neighbourhood screenings of the Wagner-backed documentary The Tourist, about a group of Wagner instructors in the Central Africa Republic, where Wagner and its offshoots have been helping the government fight rebels for several years.
“The original idea with African Initiative was to erase whatever Prigozhin had developed and to replace it with something new. Later on in the process, it appeared that it was more rational to actually reuse all assets that were already there,” says researcher Mr Czerep from the Polish Institute of International Affairs.
The FSB, the Russian Federal Security Service, plays an important part in the new organisation, he notes. The head and editor-in-chief of African Initiative is Artyom Kureyev, identified by Russia experts as a Russian Federal Security Service agent. Mr Kureyev is linked to the Valdai Club, a Moscow-based think-tank close to President Putin.
African Initiative’s website lists Anna Zamaraeva, a former Wagner press officer, as deputy editor-in-chief.
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