Africa Business Radio

France's defence minister warned Mali against hiring paramilitaries from Russian private-security firm Wagner.Florence Parly told reporters that if Mali hired the firm, at a time when international partners fighting jihadism in the Sahel had never been so numerous, such a choice would be that of isolation. A Mali defence ministry official says that no decision regarding Wagner had been made. Malian defence minister Colonel Sadio Camara told Parly that France's abandonment of Mali meant everything had to be considered to secure the country.