How it fuels conflict in West Africa’s Sahel region

It was a good year for gold. A group of turbulent events in the global economy increased the prices of glossy commodity to record highlands in 2025.

In a world of definitions and international conflict, gold appeals to investors as one of the remaining few assets. Everyone wants part of the procedure, from central banks to large institutions such as hedge boxes and retailers. But a few of them know where their gold comes from, or a lot about the conflicts that you may feed in the countries that are extracted.

For the governments of the Sahel region in West Africa, the risks are higher. Gold is the lifeblood of the granting of the military plane in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, who feel despised by the jihadist rebellion, regional isolation, and the repentance of climate change.

“Given that gold prices were at the highest historical level … military governments hope that they are able to benefit directly,” BBC told BBC.

Together, the three states of Sahel produce about 230 tons of gold annually, according to the estimates of the World Gold Council, or about 15 billion dollars (11 billion pounds) at the current market price.

The lack of craft and small gold mining records means that this number may be less.

The production of joint gold in these three states exceeds any other country in Africa, making the Sahel region a major global shareholder in the gold market.

Governments say that the revenues of the profitable sector benefit citizens by increasing “sovereignty” – although Russian companies increase their share in the industry at the expense of Western owned companies.

For example, the council’s council leader Council Council Council Mali, General Asmmi Johohta I laid the foundation stone last month for the gold refineryWhere a Russian group, the YADRAN group, has a minority share. The refinery is said to create 500 direct jobs and 2000 indirect jobs.

Burkina Faso also builds its first golden refinery ever, has established a state -owned mining company, and is asking foreign companies to give them 15 % of its local operations and transfer skills to Burkinaabi.

Fake media campaigns were launched from the artificial intelligence to celebrate the 37 -year -old Carism Military Governor Captain Ibrahim Traore to lead such an important heat of the nation.

“Gold mining from the deepest dirt. But souls are rich and honest,” ”Kroh Rihanna, which was created in Amnesty International in a modern song, flowing on her Hariri praise, which was automatically seized on Captain Traore.

The truth is completely different, according to Mrs. Oching, who made it clear that Burkina Faso and her neighbors need a quick money to finance anti -rebellion campaigns.

In a financial case, external sources of this matter were used to Russian mercenaries, including the Vagner Group and its successor, the African Legion, which is under the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The African Force participated in Burkina Faso Military Training, but the Military Council officially denies its existence.

Although the general transparency of spending in countries is poor, governments are believed to devote large parts of their budgets for national security.

Mali’s military spending three times since 2010 has reached 22 % of the national budget by 2020.

Governments are fighting jihadist groups associated with al -Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS).

However, the Human Watch Group accused the financial government and the Wagner Group of committing atrocities against civilians, including illegal killings, brief executions, and torture.

The atrocities were documented by the Burkina Faso army and the Allied militias.

For their services, the salaries of the Wagner and Corps group are often paid directly from gold or mining concessions, according to Chatham House Think-Tank.

“Very little [of the gold revenues] He told the BBC, adding that in reality the armed rebels may benefit from gold.

Since the coup in Mali in 2021, the brutal government’s tactics against the suspected communities have increased or sympathy for jihadists, prompting more civilians to join the groups they are fighting.

The Al -Nisrat al -Islam group, Wall Musaimin (JNIM), which is a subsidiary of Qaeda, the most active jihadist group in the region, has organized an unprecedented number of attacks targeting the Burkina Faso army during the first half of 2025, a sign of the growing power of the group.

Armed groups are also literally spent on an increasingly global gold appetite.

There is a large percentage of gold mining in the coast from the literal and small sector, which is often informal, which means that it occurs in unlicensed and unannounced locations away from government control, According to the 2023 report on gold mining In the coast by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Armed groups, including jihadist groups, and SALT are competing to control many of these small gold mines.

Gold provides important revenue for armed groups, which seems to expand their regional influence in both Mali and Burkina Faso.

UNDC believes that most of this type of mining ends in the United Arab Emirates (United Arab Emirates), a global center for gold and trading refining.

“You see the overlapping of violent extremist groups that are transferred to craftsmanship production areas for control,” said Dr. Fines.

The global rise in gold prices may be the prolongation and exacerbation of the conflict in the coast – but unfortunately for Diggers in craft gold mines, this did not increase the wages of their owners.

A gold mining worker in the northern Mali area agreed to answer written questions from the BBC, provided that his identity was not disclosed, for fear of his safety.

It is estimated that on a “good day”, he earns between 10,000 to 20,000 francs, or nearly $ 18 to $ 36 (from 13 to 26 pounds).

He said that the amount he paid did not exceed in addition to the global gold prices.

“The prices have risen, but the additional profit goes to the mine owners … It is fraught with risks and uncertainty, but for many of us, it is the only option,” he added.

Dr. Fines, who was previously working as a blood diamond investigator at the United Nations, is concerned that gold has become the new major conflict commodity in Africa.

He pointed out that gold did not receive the same international attention as diamonds, which nourished bloodshed in many African countries throughout the twentieth century, especially during the nineties.

The intervention by human rights groups and the United Nations created a plan for Kimberly Certificates for the process in 2003, which did a lot to end the sale of the so -called “blood diamond” in the open market.

But attempts to eliminate “blood gold” were less successful.

This is partly due to the lack of uniform ethical standards. The London Car Market Association (LBMA), a major authority in the gold market, requires refining refineries to comply with the standards based on the guidelines set by a global body, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OED).

The enforcement of the United Arab Emirates of these regulations was historically incomplete.

In 2021, the country announced its own standards to extract moral gold – however, the frame remains voluntary. The issue of implementation caused tensions in the past between the state of Gulf and LBMA.

The tracking technique is another obstacle.

“There is no” DNA test “of gold. With a lot of effort, you can track diamonds before they are polished and cut … but I haven’t seen ways to track the origins of the gold block.”

He explained that gold is early in the value chain, which makes almost impossible to follow and connect the potential conflict areas.

Dr. Fines believes that some gold is likely to finish the blood from the coast in the UK markets.

“[Gold] He gets a son -in -law [the] The UAE, then goes to the manufacture of jewelry, in dentistry, or alloys. Some come clearly to the United Kingdom. Once he gets here, there is no way to test what it is. “

Another reason is that it will be difficult to repeat the successes of the Kimberley process, according to Dr. Fines, is that the certificate issuance system was not designed to deal with state governments.

“Kimberly has been designed to deal with non -state armed actors in places like Sierra Leone and Lubiria,” he said.

Currently, the importance of gold for Sahel governments and incomplete enforcement of ethical gold standards is that the commodity is likely to continue to change hands, regardless of its origin.

Unfortunately for some societies in the coast, this may mean that the price of trade in the blood.