I'm not convinced Russia is seeking to do much with this coup. At least with Niger, there's a strong anti-French nationalist sentiment by the coupists and collaborative ties with Mali and Burkina Faso's pro-Russian governments.
In Gabon, it seems largely like an internal affair arising from the corruption of the Bongo family. The coupists are saying they're going to respect all committments and aren't pushing any radical rhetoric. It's more a symptom of how broken the system in Gabon is.
So to add to the whole drama of the Gabonese coup, the opposition
has gone from mild support for the coup to complete condemnation by claiming it was an inside job by the Bongo family to remove one of their own from power. The claim is that Ali Bongo's estranged sister Pascaline was behind the coup, and it should be noted that the two were estranged and supposedly in competition after Omar Bongo's death, and that the current interim president, Oligui, is a cousin to the Bongo family.
Honestly, stranger things have happened, I wouldn't entirely be surprised. Definitely makes this feel less like a Russian-supported coup and more like an internal familial dispute.
https://nitter.net/casusbellii/status/1708189669874098422#m
Long nitter (not using Twitter for the meantime) chain that mentioned Rassemblement pour la Justice et l'Egalité au Tchad (RAJET) making a statement that calls for French troops to leave Chad after what happened in Niger.
Although there's another nitter post that has a letter signed by representatives of several Chadian political parties.
https://nitter.net/AfricanAnalysts/status/1707690387819687985#m
Central African Republic alloted some land in Bangui for the Russian military.
This allows them to have a strategic spot in Africa.
FYI, it's a French article.
https://www.military.africa/2024/02/us-security-firm-bancroft-eyes-car-amid-russian-rivalry/
There's reports that the American contractor Bancroft has some of its guys in Bangui, despite Russian military/PMC presence.
Someone raised suggestion via Linked In on whether the shadow shipping Russia is involved in has to do with the coup in Gabon, even though the president is known throughout Africa as corrupt/incompetent.
This comes after Moscow "raised" their concerns for the coup.
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/mi/research-analysis/russian-shadow-shipping-emerging-new-owners.html
Edited by Ominae on Aug 31st 2023 at 4:44:52 AM