Wagner network in Africa in question

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has played a pivotal role in Moscow’s efforts to expand its sphere of influence in Africa, but its future is uncertain following Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny


Yevgeny Prigozhin
Unclear whether he will still lead Wagner while in exile in Belarus
         

1 LIBYA: Wagner fighting alongside renegade General Khalifa Haftar since 2019.
Wagner retains control of two air bases used to deploy troops to Mali

2 MALI: Wagner present since 2021, helping new junta fight jihadist insurgency ahead of French military withdrawal in 2022.
Mali in process of expelling UN peacekeepers, increasing its reliance on Wagner

3 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR): Wagner helping President Faustin-Archange Touadéra fight various insurgencies since 2018.
Wagner controls Ndassima – CAR’s biggest gold mine – also companies trading in timber, beer and vodka

4 SUDAN: Paramilitary leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, (Hemeti), admits his troops were trained by Wagner.
U.S. says Prigozhin controls Meroe Gold, one of Africa’s biggest gold producers

5 BURKINA FASO: Ghana alleges Wagner is operating in Burkina Faso, on Ghana’s northern border, following coup d’état in Sep 2022


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Ghana
Mozambique: No longer active

Wagner fighters in Africa: Estimated 5,000, most in Mali and CAR, where they are implicated in civilian massacres
                                  
      
Sources: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, Sentry, FT, BBC  
Pictures: Getty Images, Mikhail Metzel
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