US sees disinformation as No.1 security threat in Africa

The United States may not directly admit it, but to a great extent, the world’s most powerful military believes part of the reason it is losing allies in areas like West Africa, is because geopolitical rivals, particularly Russia, have amped up their disinformation campaigns against Washington.

The US is battling to recover lost influence in parts of Africa, as Russia – in particular amongst the rival superpowers – makes inroads in terms of strategic alliances on the continent. Most recently, the US has agreed to Niger’s demands to withdraw from the West African country, where it was present for years and had built a $100 million base to monitor a region frequently the site of coups and terrorism.