Russia hires its own Africa army to succeed Wagner’s mercenaries
- Kremlin bids to revive Cold War-era clout on continent, and is forming Africa Corps to control Wagner’s business empire
- Force would deploy to at least five Russia-friendly countries – Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic and Niger
Russia, in a new push to expand its influence in Africa, is recruiting for an armed force to replace the Wagner Group’s mercenaries across the continent.
The Africa Corps would bolster Russia’s military presence with what it says would be a network of planned Defence Ministry-controlled bases, in a bid to revive Moscow’s Cold War-era clout on the continent at a time of steeply declining Western influence.
It would also allow the Kremlin to consolidate control of Wagner’s business network in Africa, including potentially lucrative mining interests, following the death last year of the group’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“It’s a recognition on the part of the Kremlin that there’s an opportunity to exploit,” said J. Peter Pham, former US special envoy to the Sahel. “If it’s formalised, especially with the French withdrawal, it’s certainly going to be a much more significant and potentially lasting shift in geopolitical and diplomatic alignments.”
French troops fighting insurgents in the Sahel left both Mali and Burkina Faso after the military ousted the civilian government and moved closer to Russia.