Their presence is initially just a rumor, but then it becomes an open secret: Thousands of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group are deployed in several African countries. In the Central African Republic, for example, according to the Russian ambassador, 1,890 “Russian trainers” are supporting government troops in the civil war. Up to 1,200 Wagner mercenaries are said to be fighting alongside rebel leader Chalifa Haftar in Libya. According to observers, the proRussian and antiWestern military junta has also brought in hundreds of Wagner fighters in Mali, who are accused of serious human rights violations in the country.
But the Wagner Group’s presence in Africa goes much further, experts say. “Wagner has evolved over time from private military service to a network of relationships and deals with companies in several African countries,” analyst Julian Rademeyer recently told DW during the Munich Security Conference. “They operate in that gray area between more or less illegal activities and they cover the whole area well,” he said.
Instrument for Russian influence in Africa
Rademeyer works in the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GIATOC) network and recently published a report with his colleagues on the Wagner Group in Africa. “In it we analyze that the Wagner Group is the most influential Russian actor in Africa today and that its activities and those of its shell companies are having a malign influence on the continent.”
According to research by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Wagner Group maintains a base at the airport in the Malian capital of BamakoPhoto: CSIS/High Resolution/Maxar 2021
Russia wants more influence in Africa. And the Wagner group is likely involved, as well as official visits by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, military cooperation agreements, and sometimes free supplies of food and fertilizer. This explains why Moscow managed to get 15 abstentions from Africa on the recent UN resolution on aggressive war in Ukraine, and why Eritrea and Mali sided even more clearly with Russia when they voted against the resolution.
Allegedly named after German composer Richard Wagner, the group was founded in 2014 by proPutin businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin and has since become a vital private player for Russian interests. Prigozhin recently declared that he was also behind the Internet Research Agency’s troll factory, which feeds social media, especially in the West, with disinformation in favor of Russia. Campaigns to influence African populations are also found in GIATOC research on the Wagner Group.
The Kremlin uses Wagner as an “instrument of diplomacy in Africa,” a representative of the research collective All Eyes on Wagner told DW. The group oversees Wagner’s activities worldwide. The identity of the representative is known to the editors, but he uses the pseudonym Gabriel for their protection.
He says the local mercenaries are linked to subsidiary companies. “Private military companies are banned in Russia, but in a way Russian private military companies are allowed to operate outside of Russia,” says Gabriel. “And if the Wagner brand develops its activities in Africa, the Kremlin will give its approval.”
Trade in wood, gold, sugar and alcohol
According to international surveys, the Wagner brand is also active in areas that go beyond the security sector. In July, All Eyes on Wagner, along with 11 European media partners, revealed how the Wagner Group made huge profits from Central African Republic’s precious tropical hardwood. According to the report, the Bangui government had granted a subsidiary an unrestricted mining concession covering 187,000 hectares.
The situation is similar in the case of the Ndassima gold mine in the Central African Republic: According to research, the concession of a Canadian mining company was revoked in favor of a company from Madagascar, which also appears in the GIATOC report as a subsidiary of the GIATOC Wagner Group.
A report in The Africa Report magazine highlights how the Wagner network allegedly imported heavy mining equipment via the Cameroonian port city of Douala. Up to three truck convoys now drive from Bangui to Douala every week to transport the raw materials, protected by Wagner men with heavy weapons.
The Ndassima gold mine, seen here in a 2014 archive photo, is now operated by a company that would be associated with the Wagner GroupPhoto: Thierry Bresilion/AA/Picture Alliance
For cashstrapped African governments, paying for Wagner’s services with mining permits or market access can be quite attractive, says Gabriel: “They don’t have to spend any money, but they can simply say: ‘Here, you can run this mine for 25, 50 or 100 years without any problems tear down'”.
“The Russians dominate in all profitable areas”
In the Central African Republic, the Wagner Group appears to be further diversifying its business. For example, they are trying to put the French sugar company SUCAF out of business, said Joseph Bendounga, chairman of the opposition party MDREC. In the DW interview, he gives another example: “You are in the process of portraying the French brewery Castel as a supporter and financier of terrorist forces. In all areas that bring in money, including customs and taxes, the Russians are masters.”
This could benefit First Industrial Company, which makes beer and spirits in Bangui — and appears to be registered in the name of a Russian businessman, whose name continues to grow in the Wagner chain, according to the GIATOC report.
In the Central African Republic, the relationship appears to be bearing fruit: a proRussian demonstration in 2022Photo: Carol Valade/AFP/Getty Images
Russia does not deny links to First Industrial Company. A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Bangui told DW: “It’s going well because drinks made with Russian recipes are very popular in the Central African Republic.” He said the goal is to promote Russian culture among the Central African population and do business. A private investor can do whatever he wants, the spokesman said: “After all, that’s the law of the free market.”
War in Ukraine and new plans in Africa?
The economic activities of the Wagner network in Africa appear to be growing, although mercenaries from the group are now fighting on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine. “In some cases, many mercenaries have been withdrawn to fight in Ukraine, while others remain on the ground,” Rademeyer, an analyst at GIATOC, told DW. “Activities continue, sometimes at a lower level. But there are no signs that the war in Ukraine will lead to a withdrawal of Wagner mercenaries from Africa.”
On the contrary, just before the oneyear anniversary of the start of the war, on February 24, the Wall Street Journal, citing US intelligence agencies, reported that the Wagner group was planning a coup in Chad together with local rebels.
Rademeyer fears that “Wagner will continue to metastasize and grow in Africa as long as these influences are not addressed. Europe and its partners need to work much better with Africa to do this.”
Contributors: Dirke Koepp, Kossivi Tiassou, Sandrine Blanchard and Bob Barry