The Russian mercenary Wagner Group has long turned into a widely influential network that also pursues economic activities, particularly in Africa. At the same time, it's known to always prioritize Russia's — read, the Kremlin's — interests.

When the group's boss, the Russian multimillionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, sought an open showdown with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in June 2023, he died in a mysterious plane crash soon afterwards.

Since then, the Wagner Group has moved even deeper into Russia's state structures.

Russia's unofficial vicarious agent

"For Russia, the Wagner Group is absolutely essential because it complements official diplomatic channels," Hager Ali, a researcher at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies in Hamburg, told DW.

She added that, aside from equipping armed forces and engaging in diplomatic initiatives such as at the recent BRICS summit, there were other areas of activity that Russia's government could not necessarily pursue through official channels.

"There's a completely different set of international rules that apply to a formal army than to a private military contractor," she explained.

After Prigozhin's death, various units were incorporated into Russia's so-called Africa Corps and placed under the control of the Russian Defense Ministry.

The name "Africa Corps" alludes to a German expeditionary force with the same name under Nazi Germany, just as the Wagner Group shares a name with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's favorite composer, Richard Wagner.

"The Russian state wanted control over mercenaries but did not want to touch existing personnel structures on the ground," Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program of the German policy and civic education think tank the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, told DW.

"That's why the Africa Corps is now a holding company, so to speak, which Wagner has taken over," he added. 

But the Wagner Group is not the only vector the Russian state uses to influence politics on the African continent. Russia is also engaged in efforts to spread anti-Western propaganda in African societies through social and conventional media and hosts a number of cultural institutions, such as the Russian House in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR).

Dmitri Sytyi, the director of the Russian House, told DW the house had hundreds of visitors learning Russian and visiting theater and music performances.

"Right now, I'm the ambassador of Russia, like, informal ambassador of Russian policy in this country," Sytyi said in an interview. 

The EU and US regard him as a high-ranking Wagner official and have placed his name on their international sanctions lists. He's been accused of serious human rights violations in the CAR. Human Rights Watch speaks of targeted killings and torture in 2022 while also highlighting the ongoing impunity for perpetrators from the ranks of the Wagner Group. 

The 35-year-old has said he is being made a scapegoat.

What is the Wagner Group doing in Africa?

Few countries have such close ties with the Wagner Group as the Central African Republic. In 2018, the country signed an official security pact with Russia, and a military airport is currently being developed into a Russian hub.

Wagner mercenaries protect President Faustin-Archange Touadera and support government troops in their efforts to maintain the upper hand in the ongoing civil war. According to media reports, some 1,500 to 2,000 fighters are on the ground. 

In return for their security services, companies from the wider Wagner network are exploiting a gold mine in the CAR and cutting valuable tropical timber, among other things. Others brew beer, sell vodka in Bangui or trade sugar.

The Wagner Group is also an active player in the conflict in Libya. And Libya and CAR are hubs for the Wagner Group's activities in Sudan. 

Even before the Sudanese civil war erupted in April 2023, the group was in close contact with Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), training forces and guarding gold mines.

However, the Kremlin also regards the other warring party, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as an important partner for trade — and for establishing a naval base in the Red Sea.

Thanks to the new structuring of the Wagner Group under the Africa Corps, the Kremlin could now pursue a clearer strategy, Ali told DW, adding that "on the one hand, Russia can access resources through the Wagner Group, on the other hand, it can now also use official diplomatic channels to maintain or even deepen its footprint in Sudan." 

That way, Russia, which is dependent on foreign currency for its war in Ukraine, could benefit twice by not only selling new weapons systems, but also incorporating the Wagner Group in the transfer of knowledge, the expert explained.

Regime survival for sale 

Another focus of the Wagner Group's activities can be found in the Sahel region: Anti-Western putschists are in power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, each of which relies on Russian aid.

"Mali's original idea was to bring in Wagner and replace the West to fight and get weapons," Laessing told DW. However, this goal has now shifted, he added.

For example, the coup leader in Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, surrounds himself with Russian bodyguards. There is also evidence that the Wagner Group provides "regime survival packages" in Mali and in Niger.

"While the Africa Corps also exists in Niger, there are no signs that they are fighting. I am convinced that they are there to protect the regime," Laessing said, adding that this was particularly true now that Russia had announced the group would be installing air defense guns "which you don't need to fight jihadists." 

Researcher Ali agrees: "This [survival package] can include expertise and experience as well as actual support in defending against possible uprisings by the civilian population or collecting natural resources," she told DW. 

In the future, it's possible that more African heads of state will accept such "survival packages" offered by the Wagner Group.

This article was originally published in German.