Thirty years after the disengagement from Africa following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia, through Wagner’s paramilitary mercenaries, is trying to position itself in the region again, taking advantage of the military coups, the proliferation of armed groups, and the decline in the influence of European countries.
In recent years, the spread of mercenaries in conflict zones in Africa has increased, led by the Russian Wagner Group, which seeks to achieve Moscow’s expansionist goals in the brown continent. However, the expansion was not limited to the security dimension only, but rather went beyond that to the consolidation of commercial presence.
Numerous reports indicated the expansion of the economic presence of the Russian military Wagner Group on the African scene. On December 2, the Belgian News Agency published a report on the Wagner Group’s involvement in trade and smuggling of diamonds from the Central African Republic to Belgium.
This raises questions about the limits of the economic expansion of the Wagner Group in Africa, the purpose of this economic hegemony, and whether it is a prelude to the subjugation of the ruling authorities there later, as well as the factors that Wagner relies on to increase its economic presence in the continent.
According to reports, Wagner’s forces arrived in the West African country of Mali, to work ostensibly with French forces to confront the increasing violence of Islamic movements that spread in most parts of the region, but acute tension flared up against the background of the escalating violence between the Malian Military Council and France, which has a historical extension in the region, which led This leads to the withdrawal of the latter, so that Russia can make good use of this in strengthening its influence and filling the void left by France.
The Wagner Group receives a specific percentage of gold and diamonds in exchange for its security services in the Central African Republic
After Mali, it was the turn of Burkina Faso, in which Russia sought to establish its presence within it as a point linked to Mali, which happened relatively, especially after the escalation of the wave of anger against the French, for Moscow to move to a further stage by focusing on the state of Niger, and thus these moves aroused the ire of Paris and the number of from the African Union countries.
Historically, West Africa is a French presence, as Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and other surrounding countries are French colonies, but Russia is trying to create a new conflict zone through its intervention in West Africa, and also by trying to tighten its grip on energy sources, which the region is one of the most important. her incubators.
Wagner also relied on diversifying its sources of financing and its economic presence in the African continent, many approaches, perhaps the most prominent of which is diversifying the cases of signing security protection contracts, as well as concluding political deals to protect officials in exchange for seizing the wealth of the region, and many other methods.
Wagner also relies on a specific percentage of gold and diamonds in exchange for its security services in the Central African Republic, which was confirmed by Stephen Townsend, head of the US military command in Africa, AFRICOM, last February, that Wagner and Mali contracted that the latter pay the first $10 million per month, considering Mali will have to “trade natural resources such as gold and precious stones in order to pay this amount.”
Numerous reports confirmed that Wagner acquired 78 percent of the shares of the national company responsible for gold mining and refining “Marina Gold” in Mali.
Mali is considered the third largest producer of gold on the African continent after Ghana and South Africa, and its production of gold reached 63.4 tons in 2021. In addition, the country owns, according to the Ministry of Financial Mines, “two million tons of iron ore, 5 thousand tons of uranium, and 20 million tons of manganese, 4 million tons of lithium, and 10 million tons of limestone.”
Numerous reports indicate the expansion of the economic presence of the Russian Wagner Military Group on the African scene
Analysts say that the expansion of Wagner, and the strengthening of its economic presence in the brown continent, could create consequences and repercussions, perhaps the most prominent of which is the increase in the imposition of international sanctions on individuals associated with it, but nevertheless the financial structures of the group appear complex and intentionally opaque, and most of them depend on front companies to hide their operations. and its origins. The group includes a loose and secretive network of companies and financial intermediaries with ties to its director, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the Russian state.
This loose structure weakens the effectiveness of sanctions and other financial targeting policies, which PMCs can avoid by changing their structure, redirecting and obscuring their financial activities.
Many security experts believe that expanding the sanctions would be very useful as one of the important strategies for disrupting Wagner’s economic and financial operations.
Wagner’s mercenaries are now active in the wars in Mali and the Central African Republic. They support the leaders of some countries and militia leaders who can pay for their services in cash, or grant them mining privileges of some precious metals such as gold, diamonds and uranium.
And a report by the New York Times earlier this year confirmed that the Wagner Group is bigger than a company that provides military support in exchange for gold, as it is an ideal model for Moscow’s attempts to expand in the brown continent by supporting some militias and authoritarian rulers, indicating that it operates through a sprawling network of dummy companies.
The Kremlin denies any links to Wagner. But American and European officials and observers say that it is an unofficial tool for the Kremlin, stressing that it is a cheap way for President Vladimir Putin to expand his influence, strengthen his war against Western sanctions, and expand his influence.
The Wagner Group appeared for the first time in 2014, during the Russian attack on eastern Ukraine, and its leader was Dmitry Utkin, a retired commander of the Russian Special Forces.
The Wagner Group first came to prominence in 2014, during the Russian offensive into eastern Ukraine, and its leader was Dmitry Utkin, a retired commander of the Russian special forces, who is said to be fascinated by the history of Nazism.
The group’s foreign activities began in 2015, when it was tasked with supporting the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, and seizing oil and gas fields, according to US officials.
And in Africa, Wagner’s mercenaries have begun advising faltering dictators, running disinformation campaigns on social media and deploying teams of bogus election observers, according to Western officials, experts and UN investigators. Companies linked to Prigozhin also operated gold and diamond mines, which tyrants bestow on the group in return for their support.
In 2019, the group deployed around 160 fighters to the gas-rich, Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado region of northern Mozambique. But U.S. officials said that within weeks, an Islamic State group had killed seven of them, prompting their withdrawal several months later.
Russia has attempted to shape the politics of at least a dozen African countries through social media and political influence campaigns carried out by the Wagner Group, in addition to providing weapons to some militias and authoritarian regimes.
Analysts say that this expansion is part of Putin’s broader desire to re-establish Russia as a great power, putting it in competition with China and Turkey, which are looking for an opportunity to expand their influence in Africa in light of the decline of the Western role
