Young women walked onto the podium in bright pink and blue evening dresses made from African “wax fabric”. The “Miss Bangui” competition was getting underway at the Hotel Ledger, a rundown place with a fancy-looking facade that plays a central role as a meeting place in the Central African Republic’s capital as it is the city’s only five-star hotel.

Their hair pulled up in buns, earrings and necklaces glinting, they came to the front of the stage one after the other to pose, perching on high heels. The frozen smiles, the music, the "quiz" to test the candidates' knowledge: all the familiar stereotypes of beauty contests were on display. At the same time, there was another show underway — one that symbolizes the country’s new direction.

Near the front several CAR ministers and officials watched the models perform from a VIP table covered with a white tablecloth. But judging by their body language, the most important VIPs here were several Russian officials sitting beside them. One, the first secretary at the Russian Embassy, Viktor Tokmakov. The other, Valery Zakharov, a former member of the Russian intelligence services, now working as security advisor to the country’s President Faustin-Archange Touadéra. And the on-stage battle to become “Miss Bangui” was sponsored by a Russian company with close ties to the Kremlin.