A few years ago, it seemed that a new Russian interventionism would replace the Western one. After their engagement in Syria, which bolstered Assad’s rule and the successful annexation of the Crimea, Russia seemed to be capable and willing to stretch their sphere of influence through military interventions. Key to these endeavors were private military companies (PMC) like the Slavonic Corps or the Wagner Group. Now, a well-known PMC reentered the stage that could challenge not only Russian but also Western rivals and could induce an Africanization of Security Governance in Africa. On 7 December 2020 Eeben Barlow – a former South African commandant and military contractor – announced the reactivation of Executive Outcomes (EO). To assess the transformative potential of this reactivation for African security governance, it is helpful to consider the past engagement of other PMCs on the African continent, especially the failure of the Wagner Group.

Since October 2017, Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province has been plagued by a jihadist rebellion which so far has resulted in up to 2,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 400,000 people. The uprising erupted in the context of escalating tensions between the Mozambican government and an extremist youth sect whose origins can be traced to the 2000s. Indeed, over the past three decades, jihadist milieus dominated by militant Islamist preachers have emerged in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Am 23. März 2020 forderte UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres angesichts der Ausbreitung des Corona-Virus einen sofortigen globalen Waffenstillstand. In allen Konfliktzonen gelte es nun, so Guterres, die Waffen niederzulegen und sich auf den gemeinsamen Kampf gegen die Pandemie zu konzentrieren. Von diesem Appell unbeeindruckt sehen sich jihadistische Gruppen weltweit durch die Pandemie im Aufwind. Besonders im sub-saharischen Afrika, das in der letzten Dekade zu einem Hotspot islamistischer Gewalt geworden ist, besteht die Gefahr, dass die Ausbreitung des Virus bestehende Destabilisierungstendenzen signifikant verstärken wird.