U.S. urges for action to stop Wagner’s illicit trafficking of natural resources in Africa

October 7, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The United States urged prompt action against the Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, saying they exploit African natural resources to fund Moscow’s war machine and support human rights violations.

 In a speech at a UN Security Council briefing on the financing of armed groups and terrorists through the illicit trafficking of natural resources on October 6, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed growing concerns on Wagner activities across Africa.

Thomas-Greenfield pinpointed to the thoroughly-documented Wagner activities in the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, and Sudan, stressing that these ” ill-gotten gains are used to fund Moscow’s war machine in Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine”.

“(…) Wagner exploits client States who pay for their heavy-handed security services in gold, diamonds, timber, and other natural resources – this is part of Wagner Group’s business model,” she said.

Wagner group is involved in gold mining in Sudan besides training and managing propaganda campaigns for the Rapid Support Forces (SRF). The military company also uses Port Sudan on the Red Sea to supply its fighters in CAR.

The U.S. diplomat stressed that Africans are paying a heavy price for Wagner’s “exploitive practices” and human rights violations.

“We have the power to go after those who exploit natural resources and fund armed conflict and terrorism. And we have to wield that power effectively and with urgency,” .she urged.

In response to a report by CNN on Wagner’s involvement in gold mining in Sudan, the Head of the Sovereign Council in Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan denied the presence of the military private contractor in the country.

“There is no presence of this company or other outlaw organisations in the country,” al-Burhan told Alhurra TV on June 20, 2022.

On July 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed additional sanctions on entities linked to Russian financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin, Wagner founder, over attempts to “suppress and discredit” democratic reforms in Sudan.

“Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his network are exploiting Sudan’s natural resources for personal gain and spreading malign influence around the globe,” said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

(ST)