The Russian paramilitary outfit, the Wagner Group, has emerged as a destabilising force in many democracies across the world, but a majority of them are found in Africa. 

The group's most notable footprint as yet is in Mali, where, in late March this year, it was allegedly linked to the execution of an estimated 300 civilian men in the rural town of Moura. It worked in tandem with forces loyal to the government. 

Since then, the Wagner Group, whose operations are understood to be at the behest of powerful men aligned with the state of Russia, has become a common feature at the United Nations Security Council's briefings.

In Mali, the group took advantage of the departure of French forces, and this has greatly compromised the UN peacekeeping initiative in the Sahel region.

Speaking during a webinar entitled "Examining the Realities of Russian Activities and Influence in Africa and Its Effects on the Continent", Candace Rondeaux, the director of Future Frontlines at the think-tank New America, said that the Wagner Group's machinations last month had resulted in a diplomatic tiff among the five permanent members of the Security Council.

"In June, the situation became so acute that it sparked tensions between the five permanent members of the Security Council - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US - over the future of the UN peacekeeping mission to Mali and very nearly derailed the UN’s largest effort to stabilise the Sahel region of Africa," she said.

She also said the continued operations of the Wagner Group in Mali had similar traits to their past operations in other parts of the continent.

"Everywhere they go, Russian soldiers of fortune are trailed by allegations of horrific atrocities. In Sudan, Russian-backed mercenaries involved in illicit profiteering from gold mining have complicated efforts to broker the transition to a stable civilian-led democratic governance. 

"In the Central African Republic, UN rapporteurs have reported concerns about Russian involvement in the systemic use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war. The number of alleged Wagner Group human rights violations in the north African country of Libya, meanwhile, is so high that it is easy to lose count," she added.

Russia’s strategic objectives in Africa

Joseph Siegle, the director of Research and Strategic Communications at Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, said with the Wagner Group at the forefront, Africa was experiencing the return of Russia onto the continent.

"Russia has arguably expanded its influence in Africa more rapidly than any other external actor over the last several years, after largely withdrawing from the continent following the Cold War. Russia has realised this expanded influence, even though it provides less than one percent of the foreign direct investment going into Africa," he said.

"Combined with elevated engagements in Algeria and Egypt, Russia is posturing to be a powerbroker in the southern Mediterranean. This has been accompanied by Russian efforts to secure naval port access in the Red Sea, most visibly in Port Sudan, through support to the military government in Sudan."

The officials say another objective of the Kremlin, through the Wagner Group, is to counter American military influence in Africa, as Russia attempts to posture itself as a world power with a presence everywhere.

"This [posturing] has been most obviously seen in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, where Russia has become the dominant security partner of the isolated and compromised civilian government in CAR and the military junta in Mali," Siegle added.

In a free and fair "rules-based world", Russia was disadvantaged, and as such, tried to appeal to rogue African leaders, while at the same time disregarding territorial integrity, as seen in its war against Ukraine.

Implications for Africa

Fonteh Akum, executive director at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), noted implications for the continent in its dealings with Russia and mercenary outfits.

Top of the list was the reconfiguration of security alliances against "the backdrop of maligned influences seeking to leverage tenuous colonial histories to Russia’s advantage".

He noted that, particularly in west and central Africa, mercenaries such as the Wagner Group had replaced partner countries such as the US, and in the process were breeding impunity and ruthless human rights violations and economic sabotage.

"The two cases in point (Mali and the CAR) reflect the direct targeting of France (and by extension the US) in order to replace established security arrangements with elected governments.

"In this emergent security environment, capitalisation on narrow self-interests within some African states, to once again service malign external interests, needs to be guarded against," he said.

Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, director and Senior Fellow of the Africa Programme, at the Centre for Strategic International Studies [CSIS] said the US did not fully grasp the real Africa, and that this was an advantage for Russia.

"US policymakers still view Africa through a European colonial lens as they did in 1945. This is a serious obstacle to the development of an optimal and comprehensive US Africa policy, as the European lens colors all dimensions of US engagement in Africa,"Dizolele said.

He added that the Chinese did not face the same problems faced by the US in Africa because "they engaged Africans through a Chinese lens".

That's why "today’s great power competition in Africa reflects this gap between China and the United States".