After Yevgeny Prigozhin and several leaders within the Wagner Group are said to have perished in a plane crash in Russia, questions are being raised about what will happen in the African countries where its forces operate.
A power vacuum has arisen, which worries many.
– I am tempted to assume that some of these operational forces on the African continent will not like being under the orders of the Russian army, says Henning Melber at the Nordic Africa Institute.
Niger is the latest in a series of African countries where the Wagner Group has established itself, and where Russia is used as a bat against Western interests. The Wagner Group reportedly has 5,000 armed men in various African countries, where the organization supports both authoritarian regimes
as power-hungry warlords.
In return, the group has received lucrative contracts for, among other things, gold, diamonds and timber.
The Wagner Group has operations in Niger, Mali, Libya, Sudan and the Central African Republic – but also in Burkina Faso, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Hope the Russian regime takes over
There is silence from the political leaders in the countries, as well as from the leaders of the Wagner Group in Africa. But pro-Russian activists in Niger say they hope Russia will take over.
– We are sure that Wagner is an institution and the president of the Russian Federation also has the skills to replace him, says Babacar Ousmane, Wagner supporter, Niger.
That Prigozhin himself had not given up on Africa, despite the conflict with Russia’s leadership, he made clear in the last video message he made, just a few days ago.
The question now is how and if the Russian government can take over the Wagner Group’s shadowy activities.
– The regimes that cooperate with Wagner at the moment are facing a tough decision. The way Prigozhin was eliminated shows them that it is not about friendships based on mutual understanding, says Henning Melber.