From 250 to 700 {dollars} per article: How Russia influenced West African media content material

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The record of articles included in these confidential paperwork is almost 80 pages lengthy. The spreadsheets, written in Russian, catalogue dozens of media retailers primarily based throughout Africa.

A line-by-line evaluation of those spreadsheets reveals almost 650 articles printed uniquely in West African media retailers between June and October 2024. In whole, our crew recognized content material that had been positioned in 35 totally different media retailers from the area. The value allegedly paid for every placement ranged from round 250 to 700 {dollars} per article.

The tone of the articles listed is unambiguous. They're anti-French and anti-Ukrainian, pro-Russian and pro-AES (AES stands for the Alliance of Sahel States, an alliance between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso based in 2023). The articles appeared in media retailers of various profiles, starting from information websites which have demonstrated shut hyperlinks with Russia previously to well-respected information retailers, in addition to retailers which might be much less revered however have huge readership. These retailers had been positioned in quite a few nations, together with Senegal, Chad and Togo.

The spreadsheet particulars the title of the media outlet, the order quantity (in {dollars}) and a hyperlink to the article. The 78-page spreadsheet, titled “experiences on the position of reports paperwork”, gives concrete proof of the affect operations that Russia is finishing up in West Africa. They reveal campaigns to unfold narratives by putting articles in media retailers. In lots of circumstances, these media retailers seem to not pay attention to the affect campaigns, nor are they the recipients of the cash detailed in these paperwork.

That is an excerpt of a leaked doc from the Russian organisation the Firm. This spreadsheet options the title of the media outlet focused (which now we have blurred as a result of now we have not contacted all of those retailers), the theme of every article and the quantity spent on the article. The column to the proper signifies the URLs of the articles in query. © FMM graphics studio These spreadsheets are only one a part of the 1,431 pages of inner paperwork leaked from the Firm, a community of 90 brokers working on the African continent. The paperwork had been shared anonymously with the pan-African media outlet The Continent. The paperwork had been verified by French media outlet Forbidden Tales, which broke the story in February in an article laying out the internal workings of the Firm. The Firm was initially run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founding father of the personal militia firm Wagner. After he died in August 2023, the Firm was slowly taken over by the Russian international intelligence service, SVR.

The FRANCE 24 Observers crew labored in collaboration with the worldwide media consortium put collectively by Forbidden Tales that features The Continent, All Eyes On Wagner and RFI to analyse these paperwork and collect supporting interviews with journalists and media retailers. We had been in a position to paint a portrait of how this community developed its affect operations in West African media retailers, benefiting from the porosity and financial fragility of the media on this area.

Our investigation shone a lightweight on how dozens of those articles had been positioned by intermediaries working outdoors of those media retailers. We now have but to find out how the cash listed in these paperwork was really spent.

Media retailers recognized by pro-Russian propaganda networks Out of the 35 media retailers from French-speaking West Africa listed in these leaked paperwork, greater than 20 printed not less than 10 articles positioned by the Firm throughout this era of a number of months. A lot of the articles had been about information within the area, anchored in an anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian bias.

A number of the articles had been pretend information tales that had been a part of Russian affect campaigns, together with some articles about military recruitment posters supposedly positioned by the Ukrainian Embassy within the streets of Abidjan. We delved deep into this pretend information story within the first a part of this investigation.

The media outlet that's talked about most often is AfriqueMedia.television. The pan-Africanist outlet, primarily based in Cameroon, is understood to have shut hyperlinks to Russia. It additionally has greater than 1.2 million Fb followers. Throughout this era, it printed 125 articles in French and English positioned by the Firm.

This spreadsheet, included within the leaked Firm paperwork, signifies the title of the media outlet the place an article was positioned (right here "Afriquemedia.television and Bamada.web), the quantity spent on the article’s placement, in addition to a hyperlink to the article. © FMM graphics studio The media outlet entered a partnership with Russian tv channel RT in 2022 with the intention of making the "frequent info area” pushed for by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Afriquemedia.television’s CEO Justin Tagouh was sanctioned by France and Europe in Might 2025 for its "direct hyperlinks with Russian authorities” and the spreading of "Russian narrative and anti-Western narrative in African nations".

Among the many Afrique Média articles listed in these paperwork, dozens supply a optimistic protection of AES information or criticise Ukraine and the actions of Western nations in West Africa. In line with the paperwork, Russian propagandists paid 250 {dollars} per article.

Screengrab of articles from Afrique Média that had been listed within the leaked Firm paperwork. These articles, printed between July and August 2024, cowl West African information with a pro-AES and anti-Western lens. The Firm is believed to have paid $250 for the position of every of those articles. © AfriqueMedia.television / Collage impact by the Observers Media retailers from AES nations are additionally listed, just like the Malian website Bamada.web, a information website recognized for choosing up content material from Russian media retailers like RT and Sputnik. In whole, the paperwork listed 32 articles positioned by Russia on Bamada.web between June and October 2024. The articles listed, that are nonetheless on-line, accuse Ukraine and France of destabilising the AES by providing army assist to opposition teams in energy in Mali and in Niger.

‘A system of propaganda laundering’ "These paperwork show that there's an ongoing marketing campaign to affect information retailers,” stated Maxime Audinet, a researcher and instructor on the French Nationwide Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations (Inalco) and specialist in Russian affect. We confirmed him the paperwork earlier than publication.

“They illustrate an enormous system of propaganda laundering to legitimise the Russian presence by penetrating native media ecosystems,” he stated. “Nonetheless, additionally they reveal how the Russians are benefiting from the financial precarity of those media retailers and reveal the uninhibited use of corruption.”

"Russian affect in Africa and the potential for manipulation rely as a lot on the spreading of faux information because the spreading of actual strategic narratives,” he added. "What we see in these information is, for instance, the revival of an anti-Colonial, nationalist rhetoric, by which I imply discourse that was already current and being shared in these societies.”

In line with the paperwork that we consulted, it seems that the Firm spent $16,000 (round 13,850 euros) on putting articles with Bamada.web and $31,250 (almost 27,000 euros) on putting articles in Afrique Média between June and October 2024. However it stays tough to know if this sum was paid and, if that's the case, precisely who benefited from it.

Afrique Média didn't reply to our questions. Bamada.web, for its half, instructed us that neither the media outlet “nor any of its journalists acquired cash for the publication of those articles”. The Malian media outlet stated that they printed these "contributions" after receiving them by electronic mail, like “dozens of others each week”, with out verifying their origin.

Learn extra Secret paperwork reveal Russia’s cross-continental disinformation marketing campaign

‘Able to publish’ articles and the Senegalese media retailers unknowingly uncovered Whereas it isn’t doable to independently confirm these claims, the cash that seems to have been spent by the Firm hardly ever results in the pockets of media retailers. As a substitute, it appears probably that it's paid to intermediaries who then provide this content material to information retailers.

This fashion of affect is rooted in how the West African media panorama operates. Burkina Faso journalist Harouna Drabo says that, in West African media circles, this sort of article even has a nickname: PAD, which stands for “prêt à diffuser” or able to publish. Drabo specialises in affect campaigns in French-speaking Africa.

These transactions, starting from 100 to 500 euros per article, might be carried out formally via the administration of the media outlet. Nonetheless, typically, “the publication of those ready-to-publish articles goes via a journalist, and the editor-in-chief might not even bear in mind,” Drabo says. Which means that these sorts of transactions can stay opaque, and sometimes, there's little details about the origin of those articles.

"It occurs that typically the top of a publication isn’t even conscious that that is taking place in his newsroom,” Drabo says.

Our crew additionally interviewed Ibrahima Faye, the director of the Senegalese publication PressAfrik, who stated that he's saddened by “a comparatively frequent follow in Senegal and West Africa". He added that the financial context of the occupation stays tough.

Faye, who can also be president of the Affiliation for On-line Journalists in Senegal (APPEL), says that PressAfrik “rejects these propaganda and disinformation campaigns". In 2024, his media outlet turned the primary in Senegal to obtain the Journalism Belief Initiative (JTI) label, a global customary for reliable journalism.

"We by no means publish this content material as a result of in the event you publish it, then you definitely contribute to the unfold of disinformation and torpedo the moral guidelines of our commerce,” Faye stated.

There’s only one drawback. A complete of 13 articles listed within the Firm spreadsheet had been printed in Faye’s outlet, PressAfrik. Once we requested him about this, Faye was shocked. He stated that the articles will need to have been printed “fraudulently or in moments of inattention” and promised they might be faraway from the location. The articles had been eliminated within the hours after our dialog, together with this text that includes the pretend information story about military recruitment flyers supposedly posted by Ukrainian diplomats within the Ivory Coast.

That is the screengrab of an article printed within the media outlet PressAfrik in June 2024. This text seems in a spreadsheet of items that the Firm managed to put as a part of its affect operations. It shares the pretend information story (highlighted in blue) that the Ukrainian Embassy within the Ivory Coast was attempting to recruit Ivorians to battle within the struggle towards Russia. PressAfrik eliminated the article on March 24, 2026, after our dialog. © PressAfrik/WebArchive.

A Phrase doc despatched by WhatsApp … and printed as is So who's behind these articles and who advantages from the sums listed within the Firm paperwork? In the interim, it's unattainable to say. The journalist listed because the writer of the articles printed by PressAfrik, an editor who left the media outlet in December 2025, had not responded to our questions on the time of publication.

"It’s essential to notice that the common journalist typically has direct entry to a media outlet’s web site due to the connection of belief they share with their editors,” Drabo says. "So that you may obtain one thing and publish it. And the editor-in-chief or the director solely finds out if there is a matter.”

Twenty articles printed on the web site Dakaractu.com seem within the Firm paperwork. When our crew contacted the media outlet about this, its director Sérigne Diagne initially said "with the utmost firmness” that his media outlet had not acquired Russian cash. Then, a couple of minutes later, he organised a name with the journalist credited because the writer of those articles.

The journalist in query stated that he was "shocked by these practices".

“I’ve by no means had anybody discuss to me about cash you possibly can get from one construction or one other,” he stated. He stated that he had solely ever acquired articles from "contributors". He additionally talked about receiving “pitches” from a “Malian supply”, with out having the ability to supply proof.

Our crew was in a position to get hold of a Phrase doc that proves that ready-to-publish articles had been being despatched to media retailers. The Phrase doc is from Senego, a Senegalese media outlet with 500,000 followers on Fb. A complete of 32 articles printed on Senego had been listed within the Firm paperwork. The publication’s director, Sidy Mbacké, stated that he had no thought this was happening.

Nonetheless, we obtained extra info after we spoke to one of many journalists who printed a few of these articles. Whereas he stated he had by no means acquired cash, the person instructed our crew that he had acquired these articles “from different colleagues”.

“Amongst colleagues, we assist each other out,” he stated, asserting that the follow of publishing articles despatched by different colleagues or intermediaries is frequent.

This journalist, who requested to stay nameless, confirmed us a dialogue on WhatsApp from summer season 2024 with one in every of his so-called “colleagues”. The colleague had shared an article in a Phrase doc. The article, about a global information merchandise, was important of Western nations. A number of hours later, the article, which seems within the leaked Firm spreadsheet, was printed on Senego’s web site. No adjustments had been made.

Forbidden Tales investigated the same follow going down within the Central African Republic again in 2024. Journalist Ephrem Yalike acted as an middleman between Russian brokers and media retailers. All the journalists who had been contacted by Yalike stated that that they had not been involved with Russian brokers themselves and didn't know they had been being manipulated.

In Chad, pro-Russian content material has additionally discovered its manner into various media retailers. On the similar time, Russia was manoeuvring to distance Chadian authorities from the sphere of Western affect, as reported by RFI.

This can be a screengrab of the investigation printed by the media outlet Forbidden Tales in 2024, which reveals how Central African journalist Ephrem Yalike took half within the Russian disinformation operation deployed within the nation by appearing as an middleman with newsrooms. © Forbidden Tales Sketchy signatures This follow of publishing articles, typically with out even studying them, raises moral questions concerning the area’s newsrooms. Journalist and affect specialist Harouna Drabo says that various media retailers cited within the Firm paperwork – retailers in Togo, Chad, the Ivory Coast and Senegal – are info portals that “capitalise on clicks and advertisements”. Due to the punishing cadence of publication – a number of journalists instructed us that they must publish as much as ten articles a day – journalists usually tend to settle for pre-written articles with out verifying the contents.

Generally, the journalists who publish these articles don’t even take a look at the title on them. One title seems often within the articles positioned by the Firm: "Coulibaly Mamadou". Mamadou, typically described as a “sociologist” or “political analyst”, was listed because the writer on not less than a dozen articles in not less than eight totally different media retailers in West Africa over the interval we analysed.

We spoke to various the media retailers the place his articles had been printed, each within the interval we analysed and extra just lately. All of them stated that they weren't involved with an individual with this title. Somebody writing beneath this title for PressAfrik continued to publish articles proper as much as October 2025. Faye, the top of the publication, confirmed to us that nobody working in his newsroom had heard of this particular person. We heard related accounts from the opposite media retailers we contacted. One media outlet from Togo, for instance, stated that they had by no means had contact with somebody with this title, although that they had printed his articles.

Bamada.web additionally stated that they didn't know this particular person, even though they printed a number of articles on their website. Additionally they admitted that they didn't confirm the identities of their contributors.

"These individuals – in addition to virtually all the different contributors – ship us these articles from easy electronic mail accounts like xxx@yahoo.fr. Usually, the names on their emails don't have anything to do with their actual names. Solely their signature on the finish of the article makes us imagine it's them.”

Nonetheless, we discovered no proof of a sociologist or analyst writing beneath this title.

This case evokes the case of Grégoire Cyrille Dongobada and various different pretend pen names documented by the journal Jeune Afrique in April 2025. Dongobada, described as a “Central African army observer and researcher in political research”, was listed because the writer of anti-Western articles printed in numerous media retailers, together with Senego, ActuNiger, Senenews and Mali Actu. These newsrooms acquired these articles from an middleman in Togo.

‘Who're these paperwork for?’ Whereas we had been in a position to show that various the articles listed in these inner paperwork had been positioned and disseminated by intermediaries, the query of what impression these Russian campaigns have had stays.

Maxime Audinet highlights that the paperwork don’t present “qualitative standards, as if the impression and success of those operations had been implied. Nonetheless, it isn’t really clear. We should ask the query, who had been the leaked paperwork for?”

"We should always take all the numbers in these paperwork with a grain of salt,” the researcher stated, underlining the “endemic and intrinsic corruption” throughout the world of Russian propaganda, which was already well-reported in the course of the Wagner period. As for the sums listed in these paperwork, it's exhausting to know, for instance, if this was the worth actually paid for the articles. The numbers appear, in some circumstances, to be inflated.

These leaked paperwork are, in actual fact, for inner use and intention to point out the effectivity of those campaigns. Studying all the archives reveals how the Russian brokers had been attempting to point out the affect they had been having in Africa. For instance, among the lists function duplicate articles, as if to reinforce the looks of their work.

"What these paperwork present, outdoors of this large laundering try, is finally the flexibility to capitalise on corruption,” the researcher stated. “And, furthermore, to ascertain an informational corruption operation to legitimise the Russian presence.”

Forbidden Tales contacted actors throughout the Firm in addition to Russia’s international intelligence service. Neither responded to their questions.