US private security company Bancroft Global Development says it is in talks with the Central African Republic over "future activities", in a possible bid to muscle Russia's Wagner mercenary group out of the country riven by a decade-long civil war.
Bancroft denied having deployed in the CAR capital Bangui, but said it was in contact with President Faustin Archange Touadera's government.
"Beginning in July, Bancroft agreed on a framework to discuss possible future activities with the government of CAR. That is all," a spokesperson said in a written statement sent to French news agency AFP on Tuesday.
Early last week, RFI revealed that Bancroft employees had already arrived in Bangui.
"They are there, but not yet operational," confirmed a source close to the head of state, without giving further details.
'Diversifying relations'
Last week, local station Radio Ndeke Luka broadcast a recording of a press conference in which Albert Yaloke Mokpeme, spokesman for the presidency, said that his country was carrying out "work to diversify its relations".
He said CAR had called on countries including Russia and the United States to help train soldiers.
The US has offered to train the Central African Republic's troops "both on Central African soil and on American soil", Mokpeme added.
Mokpeme declined to comment on whether Bancroft was already present in 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 come as Russia seeks to maintain and expand its influence in Africa following the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's biggest mercenary group Wagner.
From French troops to Russian mercenaries
President Touadera brought in Wagner in 2018 to help train his armed forces.
The move came after a French peacekeeping operation in CAR ended in 2016.
France, which colonised the country from 1895 to 1960, started sending troops to CAR in December 2013 to help stem a civil war flaring along sectarian lines. The mission, authorised by the United Nations, was supposed to reinforce an African Union peacekeeping force already in place.
But international troops struggled to stabilise the country. Around a hundred French soldiers remained in place after the end of the operation after elections in 2016 and were finally pulled out in December 2022.
Meanwhile Touadera's government had already begun hiring more Russian operatives as rebel groups advanced on the capital in late 2020.
Wagner then established itself as one of CAR's main security partners in exchange for lucrative contracts in the country, despite allegations of looting and atrocities.
Growing US interests
The Africa Intelligence website earlier revealed that a delegation from Bancroft had been secretly received by CAR's president in September, with a view to a possible deployment.
Military analysts say Western countries are eyeing new windows of opportunity in Africa as Russian authorities seek to reorganise Wagner.
Colin Clarke of the New York-based think tank Soufan Center, which focuses on security, told AFP that rivalry between powers in the region was set to intensify in the coming year.
"The Biden administration is hopefully waking up to the fact that the US needs to be more forward leaning in the Sahel and other parts of Africa, given the deteriorating nature of the security situation," he said.
The United States is looking to contest Russia's recently expanded influence on the African continent, according Lucas Webber, co-founder of specialised website Militant Wire.
"Bancroft has emerged as an important private security force and is viewed as a reliable partner for this purpose," he told AFP.
The company is partly funded by the US State Department, but insists that it does not represent Washington.
(with AFP)
