Summary
Overview
This episode traces Yevgeny Prigozhin's transformation from caterer and election interference specialist into a mercenary warlord building a global empire. The podcast explores how Wagner Group expanded across Africa, offering a package of military training, security services, and propaganda campaigns to governments in exchange for lucrative mining concessions. By 2022, Prigozhin had perfected this business model but remained frustrated by his inability to break into Putin's inner circle, setting the stage for the dramatic events to come during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Wagner's African Business Model Perfected
Prigozhin develops a comprehensive package for African governments that goes far beyond traditional mercenary services. His model fuses military training, security operations, and sophisticated propaganda campaigns, all financed through natural resource concessions. This represents a modern form of colonialism reminiscent of historical private military companies like the British East India Company, but adapted for the contemporary Russian context and Putin's desire to project global power at low cost.
- December 2020: Grisha Dimitriev and Russian instructors arrive in Central African Republic, a landlocked country full of gold and diamonds
- Wagner offers training, security, and protection of natural resources in exchange for mining concessions - 'just give us 25% of the gold'
- The package includes not just military trainers but also political propaganda campaigns, social media operations, disinformation, presidential advisors, security bodyguards, and counter-surveillance expertise
- Wagner establishes control of a massive gold mine in CAR, industrializing operations and negotiating peace deals between militias to secure free passage for moving gold
" Think about Russia as a business. It's easier to think about the country as a business. You can use a lot of mental models, but if you use business, you're usually going to be on the money. "
" Death is our business and business is good. "
Wagner's Global Expansion Strategy
Prigozhin's private jet is spotted across Africa as he travels under fake names and wearing elaborate disguises to broker deals. Wagner expands operations to multiple countries including Sudan, Libya, Mozambique, and Mali, typically moving into power vacuums left by French military withdrawals. The model proves more effective in some countries than others, but consistently builds the Wagner brand as a nimble, fast-moving alternative to Western military support.
- Prigozhin travels in disguises that look like 'Sacha Baron Cohen in The Dictator' - elaborate wigs and fake beards captured in photographs
- Sudan: Wagner brokers gold deals with President Omar al-Bashir (under ICC indictment); from 2021-2022, at least 16 planes loaded with gold departed Sudan for Russian-controlled airbases
- Libya: Prigozhin filmed at November 2018 talks between Russia's defense minister and General Haftar; Russian officials claim he's there 'as a caterer organizing an official dinner'
- Mali: Wagner moves in as French troops withdraw, securing mining concessions but also linked to massacres of civilians
- Mozambique: Everyone 'and their uncle' was pitching to the government - Eric Prince, South African mercenaries, and Wagner competed for the contract
" Americans say they fight for democracy. Russians fight for justice. "
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