Wagner in Africa – Political Excess and the African Condition
In an analysis of the Wagner group in Africa, Graham Harrison argues that Western coverage on the group’s activities on the continent characterises it as an extension of the Kremlin’s violent and venal cronyism and a disrupter of African-Western partnerships dedicated to the building of liberal sovereignties through aid, peacebuilding, and policy advice. Yet, Harrison explains the commentary from Western circles share a deep and significant misreading of African politics.
By Graham Harrison, ROAPE, July 13, 2023
Wagner and its affiliates’ presence in Africa follows a faultline. Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Mali each possess a present or recent history of loss of sovereign territorial control to insurgencies, recent coups or unstable regime changes, and failed or troubled interventions from Western organisations.
Wagner and associated projects also led by Yevgeny Prigozhin have trained African militaries and militias in counter-insurgency, served as private security for heads of state, directly carried out counter-insurgency, secured (and exploited) mineral resources, and provided spurious but legitimating observation of elections. In essence, Wagner has acted to privatise state security, fight ‘dirty’ wars outside of established liberal codes of combat, and produce propaganda for insecure incumbent regimes. Until the march towards Moscow, Wagner had worked in Africa with background support from the Russian government.
MORE >> Western coverage of the group’s activities.