loading . . . Russia’s “The Company”: how cheap propaganda flooded West African media An unprecedented leak of 1,431 pages of internal documents has laid bare how a Kremlin-linked influence network, known internally as “The Company,” systematically bought its way into West African media. Between June and October 2024 alone, the operation placed nearly 650 articles in 35 French-language outlets across countries including Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Ivory Coast.
Payments ranged from $250 to $700 per article – modest sums that proved highly effective in fragile media environments.
The investigation, led by the FRANCE 24 Observers team in collaboration with an international consortium coordinated by Forbidden Stories, drew on documents first received anonymously by the pan-African outlet The Continent. Additional partners included RFI, All Eyes On Wagner and others.
🔎 📰 🇷🇺 A leak of confidential documents has revealed how #Russia managed to place hundreds of articles in 35 different West African French-language #media outlets – sometimes without their knowledge.
The @Observers have more ⤵️ https://t.co/Yoym9km0e4
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) April 6, 2026
The journalists analysed spreadsheets detailing each placement, the targeted outlet, the article’s URL, the theme and the exact fee paid. Many pieces arrived as ready-to-publish content promoting pro-Russian narratives, criticising France and Ukraine, and supporting Moscow-friendly regimes in the Sahel. Some outlets published them without full awareness of their origin.
The broader goal, according to the leaked files, was to “reformat the African space” by creating a “belt of regimes friendly to the Russian Federation” and eroding Western influence, particularly that of France and the United States. The network, originally built under Yevgeny Prigozhin (founder of the Wagner Group), came under the control of Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) following his death in 2023. The documents form part of the larger “Propaganda Machine” series by Forbidden Stories, which has revealed operations spanning Africa and Latin America with multi-million-euro budgets.
Why West Africa is significantly more vulnerable than the EU
The success of this campaign highlights structural asymmetries that make West African media far more permeable to such interference than their European counterparts.
First, severe economic fragility. Many outlets in the region struggle with low advertising revenue, minimal public funding and journalists earning salaries that can dip below $300 per month. A single $400–700 payment can represent meaningful income or help cover operational costs. In contrast, European media benefit from diversified revenue streams – including advertising, subscriptions, public broadcasting subsidies and content syndication – which reduce reliance on sporadic foreign payments.
Second, limited institutional safeguards. Fact-checking units are scarce, editorial teams are often under-resourced, and ownership structures can be opaque. Pre-written articles require little additional work, lowering the barrier to publication. European newsrooms operate under rigorous professional codes, multi-layered verification processes, and stronger collective oversight. Direct paid placements in mainstream EU outlets would likely trigger immediate scrutiny, reputational risk and potential legal consequences.
Third, heightened political resonance combined with weaker resilience tools. In the Sahel and broader West Africa, recent coups, widespread anti-French sentiment and security challenges have created fertile ground for narratives that blame Paris for regional woes while praising Russian security cooperation. Media literacy levels and cross-border verification mechanisms remain uneven. The European Union, while facing its own polarisation, has developed layered defences: the Digital Services Act, sanctions on outlets like RT and Sputnik, the EU’s Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) tracking system, and higher overall media literacy.
Russia must therefore rely on indirect tactics in Europe – such as cloned websites, bot-driven amplification, proxy influencers and AI-generated content – rather than straightforward cash-for-placement deals.
With France 24, with additional content by EUalive.
Caption: A visual by @France24_en illustrating the journalistic investigation. https://eualive.net/russias-the-company-how-cheap-propaganda-flooded-west-african-media/
