Was Wagner replaced in the CAR? Private US military company is in talks with Bangui

Will the US take Russia’s place? American private military company Bancroft Global Development is in talks with the Central African Republic, AFP was told. The Russian mercenary group Wagner, established in the country since 2018, is reported to be in the process of reorganization.

Asked by AFP, Bancroft’s communications office denied being stationed in Bangui but acknowledged contacts with the regime of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra. “Beginning in July, Bancroft agreed a framework to discuss possible future actions with the government of the Central African Republic. That’s it,” the group said in an email.

“Training our army remains our priority”

Last week, Radio Ndeke Luka broadcast a recording in which presidential spokesman Albert Yaloke Mokpeme explained that the Central African Republic (CAR) was “working to diversify its relations” from a security perspective. “As part of the reconstruction of the national army (…) we have turned to partners including the Russian Federation, Angola, Morocco, Guinea (…) who are helping us train our soldiers.”

“The United States is also offering to the Central African Republic to train its soldiers both on Central African soil and on American soil,” he added. Asked by AFP on Tuesday about Bancroft’s actual presence, Albert Yaloke Mokpeme did not confirm this. “Training our military remains our priority,” he said. But “as a matter of fact, I’m not in a position to talk about it.”

According to Moscow, hundreds of mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner arrived in the Central African Republic in 2018, officially for army training. The system was strengthened in late 2020 to contain the rebel advance on Bangui.

Agreement between Washington and Bangui?

The rise of Russian power in the Central African Republic was accompanied by the disgrace of France, the former colonial power, amid growing anti-French sentiment. Wagner established himself as one of the government’s main security partners, and the last French soldiers left the country in December 2022. The sulphurous Russian group, however, has now entered a rebuilding phase following the failed insurgency in Russia in June and the death of its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in August.

According to French daily Le Monde, Washington has offered the CAR a security deal for President Touadera at the end of 2022 in exchange for distancing itself from Wagner. Neither Washington nor Bangui confirmed this information.

In communication with AFP, Bancroft, for his part, dissociated himself from the American authorities. “There are articles that confuse the policies of Bancroft and the US government in the CAR. They (…) are wrong.” On its website, the group clarifies that “Bancroft’s largest contributor is the U.S. State Department.”