An American 'security firm' has been in talks with the government of the Central African Republic, (CAR) ostensibly to help maintain order in the country's remote mining areas, where violence between insurgents, government forces and rival foreign mining and extraction interests has been common.
Last year, several Chinese citizens were killed and the Russian paramilitary company (PMC) Wagner or its local agents have been accused of fuelling a highly contested gold and mineral-rich region.
More recently, there have been reports that US-based Bancroft Global Development is in advanced talks with the CAR authorities.
Bancroft is a self-described 'non-profit' security consulting organisation based in Washington, founded in 1999 by Michael Stock.
This American equivalent of a PMC already operates in Kenya, Uganda and Somalia, among 10 other African states, and has extensive roots in the security and geopolitics of sub-Saharan Africa.
Initially involved in de-mining operations - the organisation was previously known as Landmine Clearance International - the 'non-profit' organisation works in tandem with a for-profit company, Bancroft Global Investments.
The company has morphed into a private security firm, also known as a private military contractor (PMC), employing mercenaries as "hired guns", according to a report in the Wall Street Journal and an in-depth review of its activities by the New York Times, which reported that the US government was relying on Bancroft to assist in what it called "the Somali conflict" until at least 2017.
Bancroft Global Development
Commenting on the development, Li Ping Lo, deputy spokesperson in the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the US State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, told the Nation: "The State Department was not involved in the reported decision by Bancroft Global Development to establish a purported presence in the CAR, nor did the State Department seek the involvement of any private military company in CAR.
“The Department of State did not ‘give a green light’ to Bancroft to begin operations in CAR, as some media outlets have reported.”
Privately, senior American diplomatic sources indicated that Washington was concerned that simply replacing a Russian PMC with an American equivalent would do very little to help conflict-ravaged CAR escape from its dual dilemmas of weak central governance and militant insurgency in its northern and central areas, in particular.
The State Department did not engage with media speculation on this aspect, with spokesperson Li Ping Lo limited comment to general US support for efforts to stabilise the CAR and end long-running bloodshed, mainly over control of key mineral resources.
The Central African Republic's mineral wealth includes copper, diamond, gold, graphite, ilmenite, iron ore, kaolin, kyanite, lignite, limestone, manganese, monazite, quartz, rutile, salt, tin and uranium.
There has been particular interest in the CAR's uranium resources because of the limited international supply, which is crucial for civil nuclear power and the construction of fission bombs.
Li Ping Lo of the US State Department said: "The United States remains fully committed to partnering with the Central African people, and we will continue to engage closely with the CAR government and international partners to achieve our shared objectives of a peaceful and prosperous Central African Republic that respects human rights and the rule of law."
When reports began to circulate in late 2023 that Bancroft was already operating in the CAR, the American company denied having deployed in the capital Bangui, saying only that it was "in contact" with the government of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra.
"In early July, Bancroft agreed on a framework to discuss possible future activities with the CAR government. That is all," the company told the French news agency AFP.
But there have been persistent reports that things have gone well beyond mere talks, with employees reported to have arrived in Bangui at the end of last year.
Train soldiers
These Bancroft employees appeared to be in the CAR capital ahead of a full deployment, according to several media reports and Africa Watch sources.
Radio France Internationale reported that a CAR radio station, Radio Ndeke Luka, had broadcast a press conference in which Albert Yaloke Mokpeme, spokesman for the presidency, had said that his country was carrying out “work to diversify its (international) relations”.
He added that the CAR had called on several countries, including Russia and the United States, to help train its soldiers.
The US had offered to train the Central African Republic's troops “both on Central African soil and on American soil”, Mokpeme said.
But the CAR presidential spokesman declined to comment on whether Bancroft was already present in the CAR.
“The training of our army remains our priority,” he told AFP. “I'm not in a position to talk about the substance of the matter.”
Bancroft's talks with CAR authorities have taken on more significance in the wake of the dissolution of Wagner PMC, following the death of Wagner founder and leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in August 2023.
The Russian oligarch and former close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin died when his aircraft was brought down, possibly by an onboard bomb, following an aborted ‘attempted coup’ against Putin over the conduct of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although the Kremlin wanted to maintain and expand its influence in Africa following Prigozhin’s death, the dissolution of Wagner and the absorption of its forces into the Russian military caused a power vacuum in most places in Africa where the PMC had been operational.
The involvement of foreign troops in the troubled CAR has been ongoing for many years.
France was the coloniser of the CAR from 1895 to 1960.
In the post-colonial period, France sent troops to the CAR in December 2013 to help stem a civil war which had broken out along sectarian lines, with militant insurgency complicating the picture.
That mission was authorised by the United Nations and was intended to reinforce an African Union peacekeeping force already in place.
However, the French were unable to establish control in large and sparsely-populated parts of the country, with the French peacekeeping effort coming to an effective end in 2016, with only about 100 troops staying on until they too were withdrawn at the end of 2022.
At President Touadéra’s behest, Wagner entered the picture in 2018, ostensibly to help train his armed forces but establishing itself in mineral-rich areas where it oversaw and controlled the mining of gold, among other key resources.
When rebel forces advanced on the capital in 2020, Wagner’s presence in the CAR was much increased, with Russia establishing itself as the CAR's primary security force – in exchange for lucrative mining contracts in the country.
There have been numerous allegations of looting and atrocities committed by Wagner operatives, including last year’s deadly attack on Chinese expats – several of whom were shot in the head execution-style – also operating in the resource-rich areas in which Wagner wanted full control.
It is widely held by geo-political and military analysts that Western countries have been looking into opportunities in Africa caused by the dissolution of Wagner.
The United States has increasingly been contesting Russia's expanded influence in Africa, with Bancroft considered, according to some assessments, as a “reliable partner” to Washington, due in part to funding it receives from the US State Department, according to specialised analysts Militant Wire.
Bancroft has previously denied that it is operating on behalf of the US government and said it does not “represent” Washington in Africa.
