The planet hates vacuum. The weakness of the western states and the many mistakes made by France have made Western Africa mostly free from European influence in fresh years. However, this does not mean that the region has been left to itself. Taking advantage of European inactivity, Russia has systematically built its influence there, achieving crucial successes in the area formerly owned by the French region – in the Sahel, 1 of the poorest subregions of the modern world.