This dissertation deals with the double correlation between state fragility and armed groups, postulated by various authors –Robert Rotberg and William Reno amongst them– for explaining Sub-Saharan African conflicts in the aftermath of the Cold War. During this period of time, several conflicts have erupted in the region –i.e. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Rwanda or Sudan–, besides of constituting one of the places in the world that most suffers from state weakness. This essay tackles both sides of the before mentioned double correlation, which is how the state weakness stimulates the irruption of non-state actors, and how the latter –often referred as warlords– affects the power of the former. Last but not least, this paper suggests a limit in the scope of the interactive relation between state fragility and non-state actors. Finally, it discusses the argument presented by certain authors, like Béatrice Hibou or Roland Marchal, that affirms that the existence of non-state actors may trigger the redeployment of state power in the long run.