Explained | The Wagner group’s actions in Africa

how the Russia-backed Wagner group is operating in different countries of Africa both politically and economically

The story so far: After fighting erupted in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on April 15, questions have been raised over the involvement of the Wagner group, which has been active in African countries for years.

The Wagner group is a Russian paramilitary organisation headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin. Though it has been reportedly engaged in counter-militancy operations in Africa, its involvement is believed to have a more extensive scope covering political, economic and military fields. There have also been reports of the group supplying arms and weapons, and training regional forces in fighting jihadist threats. Despite its involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Wagner group’s presence in Africa has continued. By siding with the domestic actors in a civil war situation, the group’s actions have impacted the democratic process in Africa.

Additionally, the West has been raising concerns over human rights violations and abuse of civilians related to the Wagner group’s presence in Africa.

The Wagner group has been active in Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Mozambique and Libya in Africa. The activities are related to providing direct support to authoritarian governments, supporting rival leadership engaged in internal wars, filling the void created by the withdrawal of the French military engagement, taking part in resource exploitation etc.

The Wagner group presents itself as a security provider to a few governments, mostly authoritarian ones in Africa. It has also been supporting rival leaders engaged in a civil war. In Sudan, it began deployments during former President Omar al-Bashir’s rule in 2017. The group’s ties with Sudan aimed at guarding mineral resources, notably gold mines, and therefore, supported Bashir’s government against international opposition. It also played a direct role in suppressing the Sudanese uprising in 2019 that toppled Bashir’s regime. In Sudan, Russia has recently forged a strong relationship with the Rapid Support Forces (RSP) and its commander, General Mohamed Hamadan Dagalo. The latter is a rival leader fighting against the Sudanese army. However, there are, as of now, only speculations on Wagner’s involvement in the ongoing violence in Sudan. Besides, Russia is set to sign an agreement with Sudan to build a military base in Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Interestingly, in the Central African Republic, the Wagner Group is active beyond being engaged in security-related activities. According to a German news source DW, which refers to a report of eleven European media on the group, Wagner makes profits importing timber, “the government in Bangui granted a subsidiary unrestricted logging rights across 1,87,000 hectares.” The same source refers to a contract which gave access to Wagner subsidiaries to the Ndassima gold mine after withdrawing concessions from a Canadian mining company.

The Wagner group is also filling in the void created by anti-French sentiments which led to the withdrawal of the French forces from Africa. In Mali, the Wagner group trains local forces and provides security services in fighting extremist groups. Wagner’s deployment in Mali was followed by a nose-dive in France-Mali relations and the end of France’s Operation Barkhane.