Shola Akinyele
In 2014, Wagner Group was little more than a rumour—a small, silent band of Russian mercenaries moving through the shadows of the Donbas. Fast-forward a decade, and it has exploded into a shadow empire: 50,000 fighters in 27 countries, commanding gold mines, toppling regimes, and redrawing the map of Africa’s resources.What started with a chef and a spy—Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin’s former caterer, and Dmitry Utkin, an ex-military intelligence officer—has evolved into one of the most powerful and dangerous networks operating outside any law.Born in the chaos of Crimea, Wagner was never just about war.
It was about influence, wealth, and control—giving the Kremlin deniability while expanding its footprint. By 2017, the group had turned its sights on Africa, where fractured states were fertile ground for a new kind of conquest.Wagner’s strategy is simple but deadly: arrive during conflict, offer protection to desperate regimes, and in return, take the country’s most valuable assets—its gold, diamonds, and sovereignty.In the Central African Republic, Wagner now controls the billion-dollar Ndassima gold mine. Satellite images show rapid expansion. Local miners have been driven out—some killed.
Wherever there are riches underground, Wagner’s men are there, armed and unstoppable.Their profit model? Pure exploitation. They extract resources tax-free, destroying the environment, while locals suffer and their leaders remain propped up by Russian firepower. In return, Moscow gets wealth, influence, and a growing list of African nations tethered to its will.But Wagner doesn’t stop at guns and gold. They export propaganda too. Through the Internet Research Agency—another Prigozhin creation—they’ve flooded African and Western social media with fake news and chaos, sowing distrust and confusion.
In many African capitals, they’re not just a private army—they are the regime.Their human rights record is as dark as their tactics. UN reports link Wagner to torture, mass executions, and sexual violence across several countries. In Mali, civilian deaths spiked nearly 300% after Wagner boots hit the ground. And that’s just what’s been officially documented.Even after Prigozhin’s dramatic mutiny in 2023—and his death in a fiery plane crash just weeks later—Wagner didn’t collapse. It was reborn. Rebranded as “Africa Corps” and tucked under the Russian Ministry of Defense, the machine keeps grinding. Different name. Same mission.This isn’t just a military operation. It’s a blueprint for a 21st-century empire—built with no borders, no accountability, and no official existence. Wagner is warlord diplomacy. It’s Russia’s invisible hand reaching into elections, economies, and extraction sites.And it’s not slowing down.The Wagner Group shows us how modern power is wielded—not in public speeches or international summits, but in shadows, vaults, and mine shafts. As the West watches and warns, Wagner builds an empire—one mine, one regime, one continent at a time.This is not just the story of a mercenary group.It’s the story of how the rules of global power are being rewritten—by those who don’t care about playing by them.
WhatsApp us