Russia's Future in Africa Less Secure after Wagner Mutiny

 Vice News published on 30 June 2023 an article titled "'No New Clients': Russia's Prospects in Africa Look Bleak after Wagner Mutiny" by Dipo Faloyin.  

The Wagner Group is in Africa mostly to keep regimes in power and to enhance Russian influence.  While Wagner continued its recruitment of new mercenaries after the mutiny and will likely maintain ongoing operations in Africa, it may not add new clients.

Radicalization and Al-Shabaab Recruitment in Somalia

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) published in September 2014 a study titled "Radicalisation and Al-Shabaab Recruitment in Somalia" by Anneli Botha, senior researcher at ISS in Pretoria, and Mahdi Abdile, FCA deputy regional representative for East and Southern Africa.

The researchers interviewed former al-Shabaab fighters and identified a complex array of reasons why they joined the organization.  The reasons include religious identity, socio-economic circumstances (education, unemployment), political circumstances, and the need for a collective identity and sense of belonging.