A look at the Wagner Group’s presence and activities in Africa
Kimberly Marten:
Well, if you listen to some media reports, you would think that they were everywhere in Africa.
But, in fact, there are only four countries where they have any substantial presence. Their most successful presence is in the Central African Republic, where they have about 1,000 troops, more or less. And they have essentially taken over security duties in the country, because President Touadera has allowed them to do that.
So, the evidence indicates that they are actually commanding forces that are in the outlying areas of the Central African Republic, which has been helpful to try to Touadera, because they put down rebel movements.
The other second largest — well, large presence is in Mali. And, there, it's less clear that they're going to be successful. They're obviously trying something very similar, where they are supporting the current military junta in its control over the country. But Mali is facing two separate Islamist insurgencies.
There's a lot of rebel activity. And while Wagner would like to get access to raw material contracts there and more gold, it's not clear that they will be successful, because the gold in Mali is mostly controlled by large Western firms that are quite sophisticated.
And the other two areas in Africa that we know Wagner is currently located, there are probably a few dozen forces in Sudan, where they don't seem to be engaged in combat in the current civil war. But, again, they are engaged in the gold trade.
And then the fourth place they are is in Libya, in Eastern Libya, working with the warlord there, Khalifa Haftar, and ensuring, with their air defense systems, that he can stay in place, and then also guarding oil and gas resources that Russia might find useful in the future.
Source: PBS NewsHour
