SNA (Glasgow) — The founder of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has branded France “a state sponsor of terrorism” and accused it of being responsible for an assassination attempt on a Russian businessman in the Central African Republic. This is just the latest episode in a shadowy competition for influence between Russia and France on the African continent, which Moscow seems to be winning.

The Wagner Group is a Russian mercenary force that rose to prominence in 2014 during the Russian annexation of Crimea. Officially, they operate privately and outside the Russian military chain of command. However, observers such as security policy expert Christopher Faulkner argue that Wagner is merely another “instrument in Russia’s foreign policy toolkit” and part of the Kremlin’s “broader irregular warfare and gray zone strategy to challenge the West.”

In regard to Prigozhin’s latest accusations, Paris describes them as “Russian propaganda.” The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs previously accused Wagner mercenaries themselves of “serious human rights abuses” and denounced their presence in Africa as one “characterized by predatory behavior and looting.”

Although the Wagner Group has gained a dark reputation in Western circles, its soldiers have nevertheless been invited into Francophone Africa by multiple governments. Wagner mercenaries are currently supporting regimes–both as advisors and as combat troops–in the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Sudan. Among these, the most significant appears to be its deployment in the Central African Republic. In this country, Wagner personnel serve in combat roles and even as bodyguards for President Faustin-Archange Touadera.

Before its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian central government began shipping armored vehicles, helicopters, and modern army gear to the Central African Republic regime in Bangui. Many of the vehicles sported decals of the Russian and Central African Republic flags joined in a handshake. Some sources contend that this military equipment is being primarily used by Wagner forces in the country, not the national army.

There is considerable evidence that French political influence in its former colonies is suffering as a result of Russia’s activities.

Following decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s, Paris preserved close links with the formally independent African nations. While this has chiefly been an economic relationship, France has also intervened militarily in African affairs on many occasions, both unilaterally and as part of larger UN peacekeeping missions.

This year, however, there has been a significant French military withdrawal from the continent, specifically from the Central African Republic, Mali, and Sudan–not coincidentally the states where the Russian mercenaries have been most active.

In January, there was a military coup in Malian capital of Bamako, and the new junta’s leaders soon expelled the French ambassador and revoked the diplomatic privileges of French officials. Going a step further, Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga, the coup leader, also banned France-linked NGOs and charities from operating within the country. Radio France Internationale, France’s state-owned broadcaster, was suspended.

In September, much the same thing happened in neighboring Burkina Faso’s capital of Ouagadougou. The new military regime there also turned its back on Paris amidst attacks on French symbols and buildings around the country. They also took Radio France Internationale off the air.

Bamako and Ouagadougou appear to be following a path originally hewn in the Central African Republic.

In 2017, Russian forces began making military and political inroads in the country, embedding themselves deep within the state. A former Russian military intelligence official, Valery Zakharov, serves as the Central African Republic’s national security adviser. In December 2020, the Wagner Group violently put down protesters following a dubious presidential election process. This in turn led Paris cease all of its military and aid support to the Central African Republic this January.

France President Emmanuel Macron has personally commented on the Russian challenge. In an interview with TV5 Monde last month, he declared that “a number of powers, who want to spread their influence in Africa, are doing this to hurt France, hurt its language, sow doubts, but above all pursue certain interests.”

From Moscow’s perspective, its growing relationship with Francophone Africa is seen as an important avenue to potentially diversify Russia’s economic portfolio following Western sanctions imposed in 2014 and then again this year after its invasion of Ukraine, as well as to increase its influence within the United Nations.

In October 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired the first ever summit between his nation and the nations of Africa. The leaders of fifty African states came to Sochi to discuss enhanced economic and military cooperation. To date, Moscow has signed around twenty defense assistance pacts with these states. Officially, such arrangements center around material support and military advisors. The Wagner Group’s role seems to be to make regimes “coup-proof” through their combat and intelligence capabilities.

In return for Russian aid, Moscow has sought “resource concessions” from African governments. From gold in Mali to diamonds and uranium in the Central African Republic, it is reimbursed with minerals rights and other strategic assets. Kremlin documents leaked to multiple news organizations in June 2019 suggest that, in Sudan’s case, there are plans to establish a naval base on the Red Sea.

Huge wealth has reportedly been generated by these concessions, though they seem to have done little to alleviate pressure on the Russian economy. The Wagner Group itself is believed to be the primary beneficiary.

For example, in 2018 gold mining rights in Sudan were transferred to the Russian company M-Invest, which is owned by Wagner chief Prigozhin. Faulkner argues that such resource concessions could be more accurately described as a reward for his role in implementing Russian foreign policy, in particular, “Moscow’s broader geopolitical push to challenge France on the continent.”

Still, setting aside the economics, on a political level Wagner’s activities do seem to be bearing fruit for Moscow’s objectives. In many African nations where France used to operate comfortably, it is now facing zones of contest, and Paris has not been coming out the better.

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