The Wagner Group still effectively owns the Central African Republic, and a new money deal means its brutal grip is only tightening — bad news for ordinary people there.

• Wagner officially became the "Africa Corps" in April 2026, but in the CAR it was a name change only — same fighters, same flags, same crimes.
• President Touadéra depends on Wagner as personal protection, so he fought to keep them; his re-election and a March trip to Moscow sealed the arrangement.
• The United Arab Emirates now secretly pays Wagner's roughly $15 million monthly bill, and in return gets a steady flow of the CAR's gold, diamonds, and minerals.
• Wagner runs the whole extraction and money-laundering machine itself, cutting out local rivals and keeping cash away from the CAR's own government treasury.
• Violence is rising: aerial bombing, roadside bombs, armed gangs given a free hand, and a former Wagner-trained militia (the AKG) that went rogue and is now fighting the government.

Outlook: Wagner is set to stay in the Central African Republic for years, with the country growing more violent while the outside world looks away.