IntelBrief: Taking Stock of the Wagner Group’s Expanding Footprint in Africa

Bottom Line Up Front

• The Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor (PMC) that has been active from Syria to Ukraine, has continued to branch out globally, deploying troops to numerous countries in North and sub-Saharan Africa.
• Russia uses the Wagner Group in Africa to help achieve its foreign policy objectives and gain access to countries endowed with minerals, precious gems and metals, or other valuable extractive resources.
• The Wagner Group is not a “typical” mercenary outfit; its capabilities extend beyond kinetic means to include sophisticated disinformation campaigns, fake polling results, and efforts to dissuade protestors.
• To date, it remains to be seen just how much, and to what extent, Russia’s poor military performance in Ukraine will impact the Wagner brand throughout Africa.