What is the Wagner Group’s footprint in Sudan and the rest of Africa?

The above statement didn’t come as a surprise for analysts as the Wagner Group, which has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is known to have stakes in Sudan’s vast gold and uranium reserves, diamond mines, and supplies fighters for hire to the restive region of Darfur.

The organisation first entered the country in 2017 during the reign of former authoritarian President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted two years later. The Wagner Group provided security and logistical support to al-Bashir and in exchange “Prigozhin received exclusive rights to gold mining in Sudan, channelled through his M-Invest company,” according to the Brookings Institution, an American research group.

But the organisation’s footprint is not limited to Sudan. The Wagner Group has steadily expanded its political, economic and military clout across Africa by providing mercenaries to different governments, running social media disinformation campaigns and deploying teams of fake election monitors. More significantly, this has benefited Russia, too, which has been using the organisation to further its interests in the continent.

In which African countries does the Wagner Group operate?

Central African Republic

The organisation arrived in the Central African Republic in 2018 to protect President Faustin-Archange Touadéra against various rebel groups. It has trained the country’s army and local security forces to help quell major Islamic offences. In return, the Wagner Group has received diamond and gold mining licences. According to a recent DW report, the government in Bangui (Capital of the Central African Republic) granted (the organisation) subsidiary unrestricted logging rights across 187,000 hectares (722 square miles).”

The Wagner Group has also been accused of committing severe human rights violations, killing civilians, looting homes and harassing activists, journalists and peacekeepers in the country. The NYT reported that the organisation mostly focused on regions where Prigozhin’s companies were mining for diamonds.

Mozambique

Mozambique’s government invited the Wagner Group in 2019 after the escalation of the al-Shabab insurgency in the northern region of the country. The organisation quickly deployed 160 of its fighters in the conflict zone but within weeks several of them were killed by the insurgents. As per the Brookings Institution, Wagner Group failed to understand “the local insurgency and the indigenous military forces with whom it had to collaborate” and had to ultimately pull out its troops.

The organisation still maintains its presence in Mozambique though. NYT said that it has left behind a small cyberwarfare cell that is employed by the government.

Mali

Experts believe that the pro-Russian, anti-Western military government, which seized power after the 2021 coup, has brought in hundreds of Wagner mercenaries to fight extremism in the Sahel region. The group, which has access to Mali’s uranium, diamond, and gold mines as likely payoffs, has been accused of perpetrating war crimes in the country, killing hundreds of innocent civilians in the numerous attacks that it carried out.

The recently leaked US intelligence documents revealed that there were more than 1,645 Wagner personnel in Mali and the organisation might use the country as a proxy and acquire the weapons from Turkey on its behalf.

Burkina Faso

As per a Wall Street Journal report, the Wagner Group is currently negotiating a new security contract with the military government of Burkina Faso, which recently asked soldiers from France to leave after they fought around a decade against Islamic insurgents.

The report added that the organisation also coordinated “a monthslong social media campaign in Burkina Faso accusing France of failing to crack down on jihadists or even arming them.”

Libya

The Wagner fighters have been deployed in Libya since 2019 in support of warlord Khalifa Hifter. In exchange for providing advice, assistance and training to local troops, the organisation has received permission for mining in civilian areas.

The Brookings Institution also noted, “Like other foreign mercenaries and militia groups active in the country, the Wagner Group has disregarded the UN-sponsored Berlin Conference’s demand that they depart.”