Wagner mercenaries in Central African Republic.
Since 2022, the Kremlin has earned more than $2.5 billion in African gold from the Africa Corps’ (formerly known as the Wagner Group) missions in Mali, Sudan, and Central African Republic which it uses to fund its war in Ukraine. Russian actors rely on smuggling and corporate subterfuge to extract large amounts of “blood gold” out of Africa to destinations such as Russia and the UAE where it can be mixed with other legitimate sources of gold and converted to cash. To stop this system, international authorities could implement wider sanctions, designate the Africa Corps a terrorist group, and introduce more stringent supply chain controls.
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Security Topics: Natural Resources and Conflict