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21 century Africa
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It’s a different world now!

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Coups & attempted coups

Since 1960 Africa has seen at least 200 successful and failed coups, some bloodless,
others have led to the loss of thousands of lives. There are much fewer attempted

coups now, and they tend to be concentrated in only a few African countries. But
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today's African leaders are all too aware of how many of these had a m'zuŋ u
involvement.

Guns for Hire
'Mad Mike' Hoare, Bod Denard... Simon Mann 104 There are any number of infamous
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m'zuŋ u mercenaries that in decades past saw Africa as their hunting ground. No
allegiance to Africa. Simply a tool to be used by those who had the money and self-

interest to undermine an African government.
The threat has not gone away. Like yesterday's empires, mercenaries have

simply changed their form. And as their number multiply so does the threat to African

stability in future decades.
A new generation of 'guns for hire' has emerged, the 'private military and security

company' (PMSC). Companies with names like Spear Operations Group, Sandline

International, Executive Outcomes, Academi. Other companies that recruit and hire
former military personnel for private security work include Defion Internacional, Triple

Canopy, G4S Secure Solutions, Frontier Services Group, Omega Consulting Group.
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Some PMSC operate in close alignment with a m'zuŋ u state.
Mercenaries are illegal under Russian law, but Russian President Vladimir Putin

himself acknowledged back in 2011 that "such companies are a way of implementing

national interests without the direct involvement of the state 105
In August 2018, The Atlantic published an article titled, "Wagner, Russian Private

Military Company, Goes to Africa,"

“ Wagner has functioned as an undeclared branch of the Russian military: Its fighters fly
to Syria on Russian military aircraft, receive treatment in Russian military hospitals, work

alongside regular Russian forces in operations, and are awarded Russian military medals
signed personally by Vladimir Putin.