Russia’s Afrika Korps: Putin’s new military strategy for Africa

For years, mercenaries from the Wagner group fought unofficially on behalf of Russia in Africa. After the death of its boss Prigozhin, the Kremlin is setting up a new force that reports directly to the Ministry of Defense: the “Africa Corps”.

It was three months ago that the Wagner group celebrated one of its greatest successes in Mali. Together with the Malian army, they liberated the city of Kidal in the north of the country. Since 2012, Kidal has no longer been controlled from the Malian capital Bamako, but first by jihadist terrorist militias and later by rebel groups.

For several hours, the flag of the paramilitary Wagner group flew over the Kidal fortress. A Russian Telegram channel offered its congratulations – an Afrika Korps Telegram channel, as the French newspaper Le Monde found out.

It is precisely this Afrika Korps that the Wagner group is supposed to replace. The name is based on the Third Reich’s Afrika Korps, which fought in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt between 1941 and 1943.

Afrika Korps directly to the Ministry of Defense assumed

The difference with the Wagner group is that on paper it was a private security company headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin. After his failed uprising, however, he and the rest of Wagner’s leadership died in a plane crash on August 23rd. For a long time it was unclear what would happen next with his mercenary force in Africa.

In contrast to Wagner, the Afrika Korps is subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Defense. A big difference, says ex-KGB agent Sergei Shirnov ARD Studio Northwest Africa in the interview: “Because this unit is clearly dependent on the Russian state. The Russian state must be responsible for everything that this Afrika Korps does.” For example, in negotiations before international courts.

Zhirnov was deployed as a Russian agent in France and various Latin American countries, among other places. He and Russian President Vladimir Putin met during their training. In 2001, today’s best-selling author fled to France because he was accused of publishing state secrets on the Internet and was prosecuted.

Twice as big as Wagner

According to Russian authorities, 20,000 people are said to work for the Afrika Korps. The Wagner group numbered a maximum of 10,000, most likely less. Schirnow says they will primarily recruit people trained in the intelligence services. The former Wagner mercenaries were presented with employment contracts.

Even though most of them have signed, things are simmering in the organization, says Shirnov: “The senior Wagner mercenaries do not remember Putin favorably. They have not forgotten or digested the tragic end of their leadership around Prigozhin, like the Russian state Wagner has dissolved. That can lead to tensions.”

First members landed in Burkina Faso

The first members of the Afrika Korps landed in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, at the end of January. 100 people are stationed here, soon there will be 300. Through Telegram, the organization said it would protect interim president Ibrahim Traoré and the population from terrorist attacks.

When asked whether the Russians would also fight, Traoré replied in an interview: “No, no Russians are fighting on our soil. But if the situation requires it, they will be there. I can promise you that.” In the Sahel region, military forces recently took power in several countries. Traoré is one of them, but there have also been coups in Mali and Niger.

Sergei Zhirnov thinks Putin has an easy time dealing with figures like Traoré: “Putin is pushing African countries into more tension.” Because more conflict makes it easier for Putin to manipulate their dictators. “In some countries it wasn’t even the generals who carried out the coup, but rather captains and lieutenants who had no idea at all how to lead a country.”

Weapons, gold and diamonds

While the soldiers of the former colonial master France and troops from the United Nations withdrew, Russia and other countries sat down. They, says Traoré, are less afraid to supply heavy weapons.

“There are many countries – Russia, China, Turkey, North Korea – that don’t impose any restrictions at all. Iran supplies us with everything. It writes us an invoice and if we can pay, we pay,” said Traoré. “But the very nations that stationed soldiers here, our supposed friends, were different. There were even some that didn’t want to supply us with lethal weapons.”

But why is Putin spending so many resources on an Afrika Korps when he is simultaneously waging war in Ukraine, where Russia has already lost hundreds of thousands of people? Russia and all 54 countries on the continent together only have a trade turnover of around 18 billion euros. Russia hardly imports, but rather exports products to Africa – especially weapons. What do states like Burkina Faso offer Russia other than markets for weapons?

Traoré denies this, but neighbors like Ghana and Western countries assume that natural resources such as gold mines and diamonds are at stake. Zhirnov explains that Putin is convinced that there are still riches in Africa that need to be plundered. “Russia can claim whatever it wants, it behaves like a predator on the continent.”

In addition to Mali and Burkina Faso, the Afrika Korps is also expected to operate in Libya, the Central African Republic and – to a lesser extent – Niger. The question is whether Russia can prove that it can be more than a supplier of weapons and a cause of chaos. If you look at the economic data and the results so far, doubts arise.