BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Officials in the Central African Republic have said that Russia has called on the country to replace the private Wagner mercenary group with Moscow’s state-run Africa Corps and requested payment for further security services.
The Central African Republic’s government has been reluctant to agree to Moscow’s demands, because it sees Wagner as more effective and they prefer to pay for services with minerals, not in cash.
For years, Wagner has been in Central African Republic, where they are protecting President Faustin Archange Touadera and his government, and helped him win a 2023 constitutional referendum that could extend his power indefinitely. In exchange, they’ve enjoyed access to the country’s rich minerals, including gold.
But Russia has been trying to transition from Wagner to Africa Corps since Wagner’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023. The Wagner mercenaries were replaced earlier this year in Mali.
A Central African Republic military official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Russian deputy defense minister made the demands about a shift to Africa Corps and payment for its services earlier this year during several visits to the country.
The official said government authorities are reluctant to agree, because they believe the private-run Wagner would be more effective than Africa Corps, which is under direct command of the Russian defense ministry.
Wagner has “connections with the officers, are feared operationally and have the resources,” said the official, who wasn’t allowed to publicly discuss the matter so spoke on condition of anonymity.
The military official said that according to the Russian demands, the Central African Republic “must not only cover the costs of Africa Corps personnel, but also pay significant sums of money to Russia, amounting to billions of CFA francs (millions of dollars).
“But authorities in Bangui said they are unable to pay the amount,” the official said. “Instead, they hope to compensate Russia with strategic and mineral resources, notably gold, uranium, and iron.”
A senior Central African lawmaker with direct knowledge of the negotiations confirmed the demands by Russia to the AP.
“We discussed it, and the government needs to make proposals,” said the lawmaker, who who wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters about the issue so spoke on condition of anonymity.
There are also questions regarding the Kremlin’s demand for payment. Both officials who spoke with the AP didn’t mention a specific amount, but they suggested that it was too much for the country to pay.
Russia’s Defense Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Central African Republic has been in conflict since 2013 when predominantly Muslim rebels seized power and forced the president from office. A 2019 peace deal was signed but six of the 14 armed groups involved in the deal withdrew from it. Wagner is credited for helping prevent the rebels from retaking the capital in 2021.
Unlike Wagner, which fights rebels alongside government forces, Africa Corps is more focused on training and that could be a contentious issues for both countries, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
“In Mali, they forced them to accept the change,” Laessing said. “I don’t think the Central African Republic has options since they chased away the Europeans.”
France, the Central African Republic’s former colonial ruler, had a significant military presence in the country since it’s independence in 1960, but withdrew its last troops in 2022 after a fallout with authorities.
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Mark Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.
