The Geneva-based The Responsible Security Association published on 4 December 2024 a commentary titled "Casting a Shadow: The UAE in Africa" by Raphael Parens, Foreign Policy Research Institute.
The UAE is heavily involved in civil wars in Libya and Sudan. Illicit gold flows through Abu Dhabi fund armed groups, mercenaries, and juntas in West Africa. The UAE may even be considering establishing its own "foreign legions," drawing from the examples of the Russian Wagner Group and the French Foreign Legion to build the country's brand of aggressive foreign involvement.
