Wagner makes a killing from Africa’s gold
When Yevgeny Prigozhin’s jet smashed into a Russian field in August, it was assumed to be the end of the ruthless Wagner mercenary group he commanded. Earlier, the ex-con had encouraged the Wagnerians to march mutinously on the Kremlin and demand better conditions for their fight against Ukraine. They gave up 200km short of Moscow but Vladimir Putin never forgave Prigozhin for his disloyalty.
But the Wagner network, unlike its founder, is still alive, playing a role in the pantomime of Putin-era politics. Its influence in Africa has been evident for years and the armed assistance of these Russian irregulars is regarded as indispensable by leaders clinging to power.
Since August 2020, seven African leaders have been toppled by their own military elites, an epidemic that stretches from Guinea in the west to Sudan in the east. Even where there have been staged elections, such as in the Central African Republic (CAR), leaders rule as de facto authoritarians, fixing elections and bending constitutions to rule for life.
The Wagnerians developed exportable talents in all relevant domains: manipulation of social media, formation of close bodyguard units around nervous tyrants, advice on interrogation techniques, training of local special forces. But, above all, the protection and management of mines producing rare minerals, diamonds and – of critical significance for Putin as he tries to sidestep Western sanctions – gold.
It is gold that has kept at least some old Wagner hands in business. So much so that they have taken to calling themselves the Afrika Korps, a tribute of sorts to Erwin Rommel’s desert troops. The new-look Korps’ functions are to: provide security and increase productivity around Africa’s gold mines, gain a stake in the continent’s gold, make itself indispensable to shaky regimes that share profits with the group, and send gold to Russia.
The Blood Gold Report, a research unit based in Washington, calculates that the Kremlin has earned US$2.5 billion from trade in African gold since Putin’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
In Sudan, which is in the midst of a civil war, Wagner front companies have built a gold-processing plant, the result of a friendly relationship with the so-called Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Back in 2021 a Sudanese whistleblower discovered that 32.7 tonnes of gold from the vaults of the central bank were unaccounted for. Western intelligence believes that at least part of that loot went to Russia. That was Wagner: the goldsmuggling business remains one of its talents, even in its depleted form.
Gold has become critical to the Russian economy as Western sanctions have piled up. Russia is largely cut out of dollar and euro trading. Oil and gas exports drove the wheels of the economy; that is no longer a solid bet. The shift to a war economy, acute labour shortages, an overdependence on the de-dollarised trading relationship with China: all this boosts the need for illicit gold,
After its bungled mutiny, Wagner lost its brand as a pack of loyal rottweilers. Not in Africa though; there, Prigozhin veterans are seen as having not only useful, professional muscle but also the touch of Midas.