Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin attempted to convene a high-level summit of African leaders in St. Petersburg. Instead of the nearly 50 invitees he hoped for — 43 had attended the most recent meeting — fewer than 20 came to this gathering. You could sense the skepticism just looking at the expressions on the faces those who did come.
Putin was facing a tough crowd. Some of the attendees appeared concerned about the fallout from the recent revolt of Yevgeni Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group of mercenaries, which is hugely active in Africa. Such uprisings rattle old ghosts through much of Africa, particularly in authoritarian states such as Central African Republic and now Niger, where a democratically elected government was overthrown by a military junta on July 26.
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