Historically, U.S. firms dominated the private security company market,
in places like Afghanistan and Somalia. But in recent years they have
been emerging in other countries. Warlords and militias have restyled
themselves as private security companies, and in Russia we have seen the
incredible consequences of PMC Wagner rising as a force to challenge
the reputation of the regular military. Wagner is also active in Africa,
building a private military empire and extracting resources to fuel
Russia’s global power ambitions. The proliferation of private military
forces is having a profound effect on international relations, meaning
the twenty-first century may have more in common with the twelfth
century than the twentieth. This poses significant risks to democracies
across Africa.
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SPEAKER:
Beverly Ochieng is an experienced journalist and commentator on
socio-political, economic and security developments in Sub-Saharan
Africa. She analyses political developments in the region, as well as
security developments in West Africa and the Sahel. Beverly is a Senior
Digital Journalist and Africa Specialist at BBC Monitoring.
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LINKS:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverly-ochieng-267469143/
https://twitter.com/BeverlyOchieng