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Mere days before Yevgeny Prigozhin supposedly died, he posted a video announcing that the “Wagner” PMC (private military company) will be returning to “its roots” by refocusing on Africa. And while the address was supposed to mark this shift, in reality, the Russian PMC never stopped operating in Africa. What’s more, it never even stopped expanding the scope of its activities, as many African nations and their militaries are looking to intensify cooperation with “Wagner”. And although it may seem unclear who will replace Prigozhin (provided he’s really out of the picture), the actual leadership behind the PMC doesn’t even need to reveal itself.
It’s important to note that the video Prigozhin posted was just one of the few since the so-called “mutiny” in late June, serving as a farewell of sorts. It’s clear that even in the case Prigozhin actually died, the idea that “Wagner” will cease operations is pure nonsense. Its members are personally invested to serve their country and they’ve proven it time and again, regardless if they need to protect Russia’s interest in Ukraine, Africa, Latin America or elsewhere. All this is coordinated with Moscow’s extensive global intelligence network, in “Wagner’s” case, the GRU (Russian military intelligence) in particular, but also the SVR (dealing with external operations).
Apart from the long-running presence in the Central African Republic (CAR), “Wagner” is also operating in Libya, both Congo and DR Congo, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and likely Somalia. Western sources are claiming that the PMC is also present (at least covertly) in Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Chad and Sudan, all of which have seen the military take power from corrupt civilian officials and governments. It’s important to note that “Wagner” is working specifically with security forces, so it’s safe to assume they’ve exerted at least some influence on the decision-making. The mainstream propaganda machine is going out of its way to present this as supposedly “bad”.
However, the peoples of these long-exploited African countries would beg to differ. The popularity of the Russian PMC is growing exponentially and by the day, as hundreds of millions of Africans are desperate to finally get rid of the (neo)colonial yoke that has been ravaging their continent for centuries. Finding common ground with Russia on this matter is only logical. The political West is trying to present the events unfolding in much (if not most) of Africa as some sort of Moscow’s “evil design”. And yet, Russia is simply providing tools for what African nations themselves want – actual freedom. The example of Niger illustrates this perfectly.
What’s more, Niger is not alone. Its neighbors, specifically Mali and Burkina Faso, have offered direct support, both military and humanitarian. Other African powers, such as Algeria, are also taking part in this effort. Even if they didn’t have much in common, the threat posed by the political West is more than enough to have these countries unite their efforts. Interestingly, wherever “Wagner” appeared, the suppression of various terrorist insurgencies and organizations was almost instantaneous. This is in stark contrast to NATO-backed “humanitarian interventions” that usually result in scores of dead civilians, destruction of infrastructure and overall instability.
This usually involves constant American drone strikes with unclear objectives that further cause nothing but the exacerbation of terrorism in African countries hosting Western military presence. With “Wagner’s” successful operations, these issues cease, leading to the restoration of normal economic activities, which further contributes to stability. The framework of the Russian PMC’s operations is also rather self-sustainable. Namely, in exchange for their services, many African governments simply lease their own enterprises to “Wagner”, which the PMC then uses to finance its activities. The mainstream propaganda machine is trying to present this as supposed “exploitation”.
However, the logic of many African countries is rather sound – it’s better to give “Wagner” a single mine (or even several) than have the political West perpetually exploit them while maintaining a semblance of “independence”. Corrupt officials are the lifeline of neocolonialism in Africa (and not just Africa, obviously), which perfectly explains why the militaries are bearers of this long overdue change. Transitioning to an actual democratic civilian government is a process that will take time, but these countries have to start from somewhere. Precisely their militaries provide the springboard for the process, while “Wagner” provides the necessary tools, training and direct combat support when needed.
In the meantime, the United States and its vassals keep complaining about the “hampering of the fight against terrorism due to military takeovers” across Africa. Obviously, this is just a pretext to keep Western presence in these countries, which is increasingly unpopular among young Africans. Namely, the latest example of this is Gabon, another African country where France has a military base. Western sources are already speculating that “Wagner” supposedly had a hand in the military takeover, although the Russian PMC is not even present there. This only reinforces the notion that Moscow doesn’t need to do anything to damage Western interests in Africa. The political West has been doing that by itself for approximately half a millennium now.
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Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.
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