Nigeria, Abuja
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Wagner is a Russian mercenary group that is likely to be a Russian mercenary group famously for carrying out a failed rebellion against Moscow and being accused of committing serious abuse against African civilians, and has been replaced by another Russian paramilitary continent.
Its successor is Kremlin-Controlled Africa Corps.
For many years, funded by the Russian government and praised for “Commander and Hero” by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023, Wagner has embodied Moscow’s military offerings in the Sahel, a semi-arid region of western and northern central Africa, ranging from Senegal to Sudan.
With Wagner’s exit from Swas in an area plagued by coups, armed rebellions and militant rebellions, the Kremlin appears to want a dominated, but informal army to replace it.
At the 2023 Russia-Africa Summit, President Putin revealed that the Kremlin had “concluded military technical cooperation agreements with more than 40 African countries, supplying a wide range of weapons and equipment.”
The Kremlin has met some degree of vacuum left by Western troops exiled by several governments in the Sahel between 2022 and this year.
From wars in the Middle East and Ukraine to tensions with China, Russia has become the sought after security partner in the Sahel both inside and outside the Sahel as the West has largely focused on the focus elsewhere.
In parts of the area, such as Mali, where Wagner maintained some of the worst known losses, it was reported that he was killed in a rebel ambush a year ago, so that the army joined local troops in combat with the rebels.
Wagner’s successor is not self-execution. Unlike the mercenary groups, paramilitary African forces are under the umbrella of the Russian Ministry of Defense, according to the Group’s official telegram channel.
The corps consists of elite Russian combat commanders. The “priority” recruitment was also given to current and former Wagner fighters, a post from the African Squad Telegram Channel, revealed in January 2024.
The African Corps operatives then joined the battlefield and conducted joint operations with Mali’s forces against militia groups.
Wagner announced in June that he would leave Mali, one of the Sahel’s troubled countries.
A similar exit by Wagner is being discussed in the Central African Republic (CAR), the neural center of African groups.
Wagner has been operating in automobiles since 2018 and has become the dominant force in Central African countries following the final exit of the French army in 2022. It is widely believed in cars for helping the country cause collapse.
But earlier this month, CAR military officials told The Associated Press that Russia’s Ministry of Defence had asked domestic authorities to replace the African Corps Wagner and pay its services in cash.
Protecting the president, suppressing reclaimed territory seized by rebel forces, “it is done in a very hidden and modest way,” Opposition MP Martin Ziguele, who served as prime minister from 2001 to 2003, told CNN from 2003 to 2003.
As a result, it is not clear how Wagner’s services will be paid. Still, previous CNN surveys found that companies associated with former Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had won concessions to mine cars gold and diamonds, which are extremely poor, according to a 2023 World Bank assessment.
Prigozin was killed in a plane crash in the northwest of Moscow in August 2023, two months after launching a failed rebellion against Russian military leaders.
Neither the government’s spokesman nor the Minister of Motor Vehicle Defense or Communications responded to CNN’s request for comments about planned pivots to the African Corps. CNN also has not responded from Russian authorities.
Communications Minister Maxime Balalou told CNN in January that the bilateral defense agreement “allowed Russia to provide weapons” and “to handle and train defense and security forces, and (and) support the ground forces.”
Other parts of the African Corps have already arrived in other parts of Africa. According to the African Squadron telegram channel, it operates in West African countries Niger and Burkina Faso, both governed by Juntas.
According to a Reuters report late last year, it is unclear whether the legions are functioning in Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa, which hosts an estimated 200 Russian military instructors. Equatorial Guinea has had the same ruler for 46 years.
Russia’s move to replace Wagner in Africa could be a “strategic rebrand by Moscow,” according to Heni Nsaibia, senior analyst at the Crisis Monitoring Group and senior analyst at the Place & Events Data Project of Armed Conflict (Ecled).
“After the rebellion and Prigodzine’s death, Wagner’s name was so badly damaged, so Russia is likely consolidating foreign military ventures under formal state control by erasing the “Wagner” brand, while maintaining its core function with new names like the African Corps,” Nsaibia said in a written response to CNN.
“In this way, Moscow can maintain a strong presence in the region while still keeping a distance from the mercenary stories,” he added.
Institutionalizing military involvement in Africa could benefit the Kremlin in other ways, Nsaibia said.
“The African Corps aims to provide Moscow with greater control over its operations, with potentially less international legitimacy and legal and reputational risk,” explained Nsaibia.
Wagner is facing lawsuits from human rights groups over accusations of human rights abuses.
The European Union approved the Wagner Group and its associated individuals and entities in 2021 and 2023. Some of those approved in 2023 are involved in “the head of the Wagner group in Mali where Wagner mercenaries are involved in violence and multiple human rights abuses,” and multiple human rights abuses, including a variety of outstanding members, including members of various glory of the EU.
UN experts also called for an independent investigation into alleged crimes committed by the Wagner Group and the Mali army in 2023.
Their statement said, “the lack of transparency and ambiguity in the legal status of the Wagner Group… creates an overall climate and complete immunity of fear for victims of Wagner Group’s abuse.”
Mali authorities opposed the allegations, saying the country was “unshakable to prosecute and punish perpetrators who have been proven human rights violations.”
While many questions remain about Wagner’s operations in Africa, there are various views on the continent’s impact of counterterrorism operations with local troops.
“I don’t know what Wagner brought to the fight (against terrorists),” said Mamaduazid, a security consultant.
“Since they (the Wagner army) took part in the battle, jihadists have spread along with many civilian casualties in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger,” Aj, a retired Senegalese colonel who previously served in Mali and Burkina Faso under the Brock Ecowas in the West Africa region, told CNN.
Regarding Wagner’s replacement, which was replaced by African forces in certain countries, “I don’t think it has changed much on the battlefield,” Adme said.
In Nsaibia’s view, Wagner helped Mali’s military “achievement a tactical and strategic victory, especially the recapture of the rebel bases.”
Nevertheless, he said the group left “on the brink of collapse.”
Earlier this month, a UN representative told the Security Council that security across the Sahel is “fastly worsening,” and that terrorist activities in parts of the region have increased “size, complexity and refinement” “including increased conspiracy with drones, alternative internet communications and multinational organized crime.”
Ahunna Eziakonwa, Director-General of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), warns that global support is needed as Sahel’s security issues are “over the capabilities of the central government.”
But what’s important is that help from outside actors is “good intentional.” She told CNN, adding, “No matter where it comes from, it doesn’t promote support on the military or security side that undermine human rights.”
