Following the Wagner Group's failed mutiny in Russia this past weekend, the mercenary group's future presence in Africa has become uncertain. But at least one African nation says its defense deal with Russia will continue whether or not that includes Wagner troops.
Fidèle Gouandjika, a special adviser to Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, told Agence France-Presse this week his nation had signed "a defense deal with Russia and not Wagner.... Moscow has subcontracted to Wagner, and if Russia doesn't agree, it will send us a new contingent."
With the Kremlin's approval, Wagner has provided what Russia calls "military instructors" to African nations in recent years, and Touadéra reportedly relied on Wagner's help to fend off rebel groups after his disputed 2020 reelection. Among Wagner's principal interests in Africa is reportedly its financial gain from activities involving the continent's gold and diamond mines.
While Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been exiled to Belarus, has not said whether his paramilitary organization will continue the previous work it had been conducting in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Russia will still provide security to those countries.
Lavrov told the Kremlin-backed media outlet RT that he had not observed "any sign of panic" among African governments that employ Wagner. He added that the Russian government could also provide direct military cooperation to such nations and said that the Central African Republic has an arrangement in place with the Russian Defense Ministry.
According to the Financial Times, Gouandjika said that the Wagner "military instructors" that were in his country came with approval from Russia. "If Moscow decides to withdraw them and send us the Beethovens or the Mozarts rather than Wagners, we will have them," he said.
Newsweek reached out to Touadéra's office via email for comment.
If Wagner continues to operate in Africa, the organization could see an obstacle to some of its profits, though. On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against two Wagner entities: Midas Resources and Diamville. Midas operates mines in the Central African Republic, while Diamville is a company that purchases gold and diamonds.
The sanctions will block U.S. assets and criminalize transactions with the Wagner-affiliated companies.
"The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali," Brian Nelson, a Treasury sanctions official, said in a statement. "The United States will continue to target the Wagner Group's revenue streams to degrade its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine and anywhere else."
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also commented on the sanctions while discouraging African nations from conducting business with the military organization.
"We believe that everywhere that Wagner goes, they bring death and destruction in their wake. They hurt local populations, they extract minerals and extract money from the communities where they operate," Miller said during a Tuesday press briefing.
He added, "And so we would continue to urge governments in Africa and elsewhere to cease any cooperation with Wagner."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
