BY DEDE YI-FEE

In a statement released this Tuesday afternoon—just hours ago—and attributed to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the State Department announces that the United States is imposing sanctions on several entities operating in the Central African Republic (CAR) because of “their connection to the transnational criminal organization known as the Wagner Group and for their involvement in activities that undermine democratic processes and institutions in the CAR through illicit trade in the country’s natural resources.”

A Russian national who has served as a Wagner executive in Mali is also being sanctioned by the U.S. government, on the ground that “Wagner has used its operations in Mali both to obtain revenue for the group and its owner, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, as well as to procure weapons and equipment to further its involvement in hostilities in Ukraine.”

In addition to the above, the United States has issued a new business risk advisory on the gold industry across sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the fact that groups like Wagner use gold “to gain revenue, sow conflicts and corruption throughout the region.” The U.S. Government, the statement stresses, will continue to take actions to hold the Wagner group accountable, in an effort to stop the death and destruction that “has followed in Wagner’s wake everywhere it has operated.”

The Gold Advisory is a joint effort by the Departments of State, the Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and Homeland Security, as well as the United States Agency for International Development.

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