Eight pallbearers – some sporting tracksuits emblazoned with the FIFA emblem – carried a coffin on their shoulders. Alongside them, referee whistles echoed the tune of a track being sung by the funeral procession.
It was September 2020, and lots of of individuals had gathered at a sports activities stadium within the Central African Republic (CAR) to bid farewell to Jean Claude Sendeoli.
Sendeoli was a instructor at a secondary faculty within the capital, Bangui, and a referee for the nation’s soccer federation. After his loss of life, college students posted messages on the varsity’s Fb web page to recollect their much-loved instructor whereas FIFA named him in its 2020 obituaries, closing the e-book on his journey.
However what no one knew was that even after he was laid to relaxation, his id was not.
Within the years that adopted, images of Sendeoli would grow to be a part of a pro-Russian propaganda marketing campaign – one which used his picture to create a faux persona whose articles have been printed in media retailers in additional than a dozen African international locations.
And it was the photographs and movies of his ultimate farewell that helped Al Jazeera uncover the propaganda marketing campaign and show {that a} man who claimed to be a geopolitical knowledgeable didn’t exist in any respect.
Paid-for content material
“Good night, sir. My title is Aubin Koutele, I’m a journalist for TogoMedia24,” learn the February 2022 WhatsApp message obtained by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit).
“I wish to know the circumstances of publishing an already edited article in your web site,” wrote Koutele, who edits and publishes the Togolese information web site.
The reply from the Burkinabe newspaper got here shortly.
“We are going to take a look, and if it aligns with our editorial tips, we are going to publish it,” the editor replied.
Like many media retailers all over the world, income for publications in Burkina Faso has dwindled.
In consequence, many have resorted to discovering new sources of earnings, together with publishing paid-for content material. Normally, these paid articles promote a services or products, however typically they’re of a special nature.
This was one such case.
Koutele, the journalist who approached the Burkinabe editor, despatched over the primary of a number of articles. “Article not signed,” the editor instructed Koutele, referring to the lacking byline.
“I’m sorry. Gregoire Cyrille Dongobada [is the writer],” Koutele replied.
Shortly after, the article was printed. Koutele later despatched the newspaper cost for the piece, about $80.
Stolen id
Gregoire Cyrille Dongobada, in keeping with his social media profiles, is a political and navy analyst from CAR who now lives in Paris. He’s printed at the least 75 articles, primarily in regards to the political state of affairs in Francophone Africa.
He focuses on the position of Russia, France and the United Nations, and his articles have headlines like: “The explanations for anti-French sentiment in West Africa” and “France’s jealousy of the successes of the Russian presence in Mali”.
Analysing the articles, a transparent viewpoint comes throughout in nearly all of them – one which presents French affect in Africa as detrimental for the continent and the presence of Russian troopers as useful.
However, on nearer inspection, some issues don’t add up about Dongobada.
An evaluation by the I-Unit exhibits that Dongobada’s first article appeared in February 2021 with no proof of him current earlier than that.
He claims to be a political and navy knowledgeable, but has no hyperlinks to any college, assume tank or non-public establishment, and there are not any analysis papers or educational publications below his title.
Dongobada appears to exist solely on social media – particularly Fb and X – and as a author for retailers throughout French-speaking Africa, from Senegal to Mali and Cameroon to Burkina Faso. Al Jazeera reached out to a number of of the retailers that printed him. None the I-Unit spoke to had ever talked to Dongobada immediately.
After which there are the profile photos he makes use of on social media.
Dongobada doesn’t simply seem like Jean-Claude Sendeoli, the instructor and referee whose funeral was held in September 2020. Dongobada’s X and Fb profiles use one in all Sendeoli’s images from 2017 (flipped proper to left), indicating it was merely taken from the deceased man’s Fb web page.
“Somebody, whether or not a state or a nonstate actor, is utilizing the id of somebody who’s died to do their very own propaganda,” stated Michael Amoah, a political scientist on the London Faculty of Economics, whose analysis seems at postcolonial politics and energy transitions in Africa.
Disinformation researcher Nina Jankowicz stated she was “fairly stunned they selected somebody who has died as a substitute of simply utilizing the profile of a residing individual or doubtlessly utilizing synthetic intelligence” to assemble the false id.
An evaluation confirmed that Dongobada shouldn’t be the one seemingly nonexistent individual to write down for Francophone African media: The I-Unit recognized greater than 15 writers and at the least 200 articles printed since early 2021.
Among the writers, however not all, had bylines within the paid-for articles Koutele submitted to retailers for publication. A lot of the writers name themselves freelance journalists of their newspaper bios with some – like Dongobada – self-identifying as analysts or specialists. Nonetheless, for every of them, there isn’t any employment historical past and, in lots of circumstances, no social media profile or different proof to point they’re an actual individual.
As with Dongobada, writers who don’t seem to exist having written articles crucial of France and the UN level to a concerted effort to convey a political message, specialists stated.
A lot of the articles Al Jazeera analysed weren’t solely crucial of France’s position in its former colonies but additionally remarkably optimistic about Russia. Every of the international locations the place the articles appeared has seen an elevated Russian presence, and a few are led by navy governments beneficial in the direction of Moscow.
The article biases and metadata from Koutele’s correspondence uncovered by the I-Unit level to doubtless Russian involvement, in keeping with the specialists Al Jazeera spoke to.
“I feel a whole lot of states are engaged in data operations by way of their covert mechanisms,” Jankowicz stated when introduced with the I-Unit’s proof.
“What makes Russia totally different is that they’re doing this by taking up personas,” added the knowledgeable, who’s CEO of the American Daylight Mission, which combats on-line disinformation.
Francafrique falling, Russia rising?
France was as soon as the colonial ruler of greater than a dozen international locations in Africa. Now, after a long time of financial, navy and cultural prominence, its energy on the continent is waning – whereas a rising variety of West and Central African leaders open their doorways to Russia.
“France needs to keep up Francafrique, which is the political system whereby colonial France retains its former colonies in test, significantly economically,” Amoah stated. “Though these international locations have gained independence, … they’re nonetheless not economically impartial.”
Based on Russian political analyst Alexander Nadzharov, solely a small fraction of Africans benefitted below this method.
“The populations of these international locations are uninterested in the prevailing socioeconomic mannequin as a result of they don’t see it working for them,” stated Nadzharov, who researches Russia’s and France’s position in Francophone Africa on the Greater Faculty of Economics in Moscow.
“The important thing pillar of the Francafrique system is the elite networks,” he stated, talking about France’s affect within the area, the place leaders, together with Cameroon’s Paul Biya and Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara, are sturdy French allies. “Everybody has studied in French universities, everybody has financial institution accounts in France, everybody has belongings in France. The notion is that the elites are purchased – that the elites are too tied to the West.”
In consequence, the connection between France and the populations of many Francophone African international locations has grow to be strained. This rising resentment has not too long ago had an impact on the interior politics of many international locations within the area.
Prior to now 5 years, there have been greater than 12 tried coups in West and Central Africa, and 9 of them had been profitable. Most happened in former French colonies the place rulers pleasant to – and in lots of circumstances supported by – France had been in cost.
New leaders have sought to lower French affect, from Chad and Niger ordering French troops to depart to Senegal renaming monuments and rewriting textbooks.
In the meantime, a regional vacuum is creating a possibility for Russia to make inroads and enhance its affect, akin to its involvement in mining in CAR and safety in Mali and Burkina Faso.
On the identical time, it seems to be finessing its picture by way of media affect campaigns just like the one recognized by Al Jazeera.
“Russia’s MO for a very long time has been to determine fissures or grievances in society and to actually tear at these fissures, to tear the material of society aside,” Jankowicz stated.
“Russia has used false amplifiers, faux accounts earlier than, most notably within the [2016] US election,” she defined.
“The concept is to provide the guise of grassroots assist to the pro-Russian viewpoint. And on this case, it’s a viewpoint that in all probability many individuals in Africa agree with within the postcolonial world.”
Two months after Togolese journalist Koutele initiated contact with the Burkinabe media outlet, he reached out to it once more over WhatsApp.
“I’ve one other article for you,” he wrote.
“The shopper agrees with the identical worth.”
For the primary time, Koutele indicated he was a intermediary, approaching and paying media within the area on the behest of another person.
Different indicators advised he was additionally only a small cog in a a lot bigger machine.
Among the WhatsApp messages he despatched editors confirmed they had been forwarded from another person. This indicated a 3rd social gathering was nearly definitely offering Koutele with the articles and cash.
By analysing the WhatsApp messages and the unique Phrase paperwork containing the articles, Al Jazeera discovered clues as to who was behind the marketing campaign.
Each digital file comprises metadata inside it – tiny scraps of details about the file itself. This knowledge can reveal when a file was created, the language of the machine it was created on and even hints in regards to the creator.
On this case, the information revealed two noteworthy particulars. First, a part of the metadata of every doc was in Cyrillic, the alphabet utilized in Jap Europe, one thing uncommon for articles written by French-speaking journalists in Francophone Africa. Second, one of many paperwork had a 10-digit quantity in it. The primary digit was a 7, which can be the nation code for Russia.
There have been “many bumbling errors” by the creators of this affect marketing campaign that led to the uncovering of their operation, Jankowicz famous when trying on the proof introduced by Al Jazeera.
Utilizing cellphone quantity recognition apps, the I-Unit was in a position to reverse search the 10-digit quantity. The app revealed the title of the individual the cellphone quantity belonged to: Seth Boampong Wiredu. Each second names are frequent in Ghana.
So how did this Ghanaian title find yourself linked to a Russian cellphone quantity in a doc that was a part of an obvious propaganda marketing campaign in French West Africa?
Though his quantity showing on this doc doesn’t immediately show involvement on this marketing campaign, Wiredu has a historical past of being linked to related campaigns.
Affect campaigns and the Wagner Group
Seth Wiredu moved from Ghana to Russia in 2008 to check within the metropolis of Novgorod, 570km (355 miles) northwest of Moscow. He spent a number of years there and began a enterprise as a translator. His Russian tax paperwork present that by June 2019, he had obtained Russian citizenship.
In 2020, Wiredu discovered a job working for a corporation recognized for its propaganda campaigns: the Web Analysis Company (IRA) based mostly in St Petersburg.
The IRA gained notoriety for its involvement within the 2016 US presidential election. Based on particular counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in that election, the IRA carried out “a social media marketing campaign designed to impress and amplify political and social discord in the US”.
The corporate, which had hyperlinks to Russian intelligence businesses, was based by Yevgeny Prigozhin, then-head of a mercenary pressure and an in depth confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However after the 2016 election interference, US-based social media corporations like Fb and Twitter improved their techniques to attempt to stop future coordinated propaganda campaigns by state actors like Russia.
“Social media platforms are searching for advertisements bought in roubles or faux accounts created by Russia, so it has needed to launder its disinformation,” Jankowicz defined.
“It has needed to pay middlemen and people to make sure that that data will get on the market.”
This turned clear in 2020 when CNN revealed that the IRA employed folks in Nigeria and Ghana to put up politically inflammatory content material on Fb and Twitter earlier than that 12 months’s US presidential election.
Based on sources CNN spoke to on the time, it was Wiredu who employed and paid them for his or her work within the marketing campaign. Wiredu denied being concerned with the IRA when confronted by CNN.
In 2021, he appeared in a Russian motion film referred to as Vacationer, which tells the story of Russian navy operatives in CAR. The movie was funded by the Wagner Group, a non-public navy firm with shut ties to the Russian authorities based by Prigozhin, the person who additionally began the IRA.
As a non-public navy firm, Wagner turned the go-to safety equipment in a number of African international locations, most notably CAR, the place its foremost base of operations is positioned. In CAR, Wagner initially got here in to coach the native military. This may grow to be a blueprint for different international locations like Mali and Burkina Faso, the place Russia’s navy and civilian presence elevated after Wagner deployed its fighters. What was Wagner is now slowly being integrated into the Russian Ministry of Defence and has been rebranded as Africa Corps.
Some puzzled if issues would change when Prigozhin died in a suspicious aircraft crash in 2023 after difficult Putin over his dealing with of the battle in Ukraine. Nonetheless, his loss of life didn’t alter Russia’s plans for Africa, Amoah stated.
“When Prigozhin handed, the very first thing that occurred was Sergey Lavrov, the Russian overseas minister, made direct contact with the African international locations the place Wagner performs a key position [and said] that though Prigozhin had handed, Russia’s overseas coverage stays the identical.”
The struggle for affect
Based on each Nadzharov and Amoah, Russia’s goals in West and Central Africa are totally different from what France has traditionally been making an attempt to realize.
“Russia is enthusiastic about very pragmatic cooperation that results in cash flowing into Russia,” Nadzharov stated, pointing to Russia being a possible provider of fertiliser, arms and equipment.
“As a result of we’re enthusiastic about being profitable, we are able to provide extra … beneficiant phrases to these African nations than the French are suggesting,” the Russian analyst stated.
“Russia shouldn’t be making an attempt to make shopper states out of those international locations. Russia has no curiosity to try this nor really the capability to try this,” Nadzharov added.
Amoah stated: “France needs to keep up its affect. And they also see Russia as competitors. And France has made it fairly clear that they would favor African international locations to cope with them quite than Russia.”
This struggle for affect has led to each international locations adopting their very own methods to steer native populations of their goals.
“They each have very totally different techniques,” Amoah stated.
“Russia will stage propaganda, and we clearly can see that this [influence campaign] is propaganda.
“With France, it’s really completed by way of the right state media.”
Retailers like France24 or Radio France Internationale, that are funded by the French authorities, “will propagate its personal gospel, that ‘we’re right here to assist Africa, to struggle terrorism, to assist assist Africa with commerce and financial prosperity,’” he famous.
However ultimately, “all of them have the identical agenda actually: affect, affect.”
Proper to answer
In response to Al Jazeera’s questions on his involvement, Koutele stated neither he nor his outlet TogoMedia24 entered into any settlement as a part of an affect marketing campaign on the behest of Russia-linked purchasers and that he was not conscious of the existence of a pro-Russian affect marketing campaign.
Koutele additionally denied performing as an middleman as a part of any affect marketing campaign and stated he was serving to colleagues get printed.
“As journalists, now we have colleagues throughout Africa with whom we collaborate. In the event that they ask for our assist, we assist them and vice versa,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
The French Ministry for Europe and International Affairs stated France has been engaged on remodeling its “historic partnership” with Africa, particularly within the areas of safety and finance.
“France has been militarily concerned within the struggle towards terrorism within the Sahel, significantly in Mali, on the request of the states involved and with due respect for his or her sovereignty.”
It added: “France has been reconfiguring its defence partnerships with the intention of transferring away from the logic of navy bases.”
It additionally stated France is not current on the governing our bodies of the Central Financial institution of West African States and is open to financial reforms, on condition that 14 international locations nonetheless use the CFA forex tying them to France’s Treasury.
Lastly, it said that French media retailers publishing internationally below the state-owned France Medias Monde are strictly free and impartial.
The opposite events talked about on this article, together with the Russian authorities, the Wagner firm, Wiredu and the individual posting as Dongobada on social media didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s inquiries.