How does the conflict in the Sahel region in West Africa

It was a good year for gold. Numerous stormy events in the world economy have increased the prices of brilliant goods to record maximums in 2025.

In a world of tariffs and international conflicts, gold calls for investors as one of the few remaining stable assets. Everyone wants part of the action, from central banks to large institutions such as hedge funds and retail investors. But few know where their gold comes from or a lot about the conflicts that can be fed in the countries where it is extracted.

For the governments of the Sahel region in West Africa, the bets are even higher. Gold is a rescue line for Burkina Faso’s military junctions, Mali and Niger, who are dressed in jihadist riots, regional isolation and devastation of climate change.

“Because gold prices were on a historic peak … Military governments hope they will be able to take advantage directly,” Beverly Poshng, a senior researcher at Risks Control Control Risks Global Control Control, to the BBC.

Together, the three Sahel countries produce about 230 tonnes of gold a year, according to the World Gold Council estimates, or about $ 15 billion ($ 11 billion) at the current market course.

The lack of craftsman records and small -scale gold extraction means that this figure is probably an underestimation.

The combined gold production in these three states exceeds any other country in Africa, making the Sahel region a major global contribution to the gold market.

Governments say that revenue from the profitable sector benefits from citizens through enhanced “sovereignty” – although Russian companies increase their share in the industry at the expense of Western companies.

For example, the leader of Mali Gen Assimi Gova’s Junta Put the main stone last month for a gold refineryIn which a Russian conglomerate, the Judran group, will have a minority share. The refinery is reported to create 500 direct jobs and 2000 indirect jobs.

Burkina Faso also builds her first ever golden refinery and set up a state -owned mining company that requires foreign companies to give her a 15% share in her local operations and transfer the skills to the people of Burinab.

False media campaigns have even begun to celebrate the charismatic 37-year-old military ruler of 37 Captain Ibrahim Traore to command such an important flow of revenue for the nation.

“The extraction of gold from the deepest dirt. But the souls are rich and loyal,” the crown was generated by AI Rihanna in a recent song that pours out its silk, an automatically tuned praise of Captain Traore.

The reality is very different, according to G -Ja Ochieng, who explained that Burkina Faso and her neighbors need fast money to finance the rebellion campaigns.

In the case of Mali, much of this was entrusted to Russian mercenaries, including the Wagner group and his heir, Africa Corps, which falls under the command of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The African Corps has participated in military training in Burkina Faso, but the Junta officially denies its presence.

Although the transparency of public spending in the countries is bad, it is believed that governments dedicate large parts of their national security budgets.

Military expenses in Mali have failed since 2010, amounting to 22% of the national budget by 2020.

Governments are struggling with jihadist groups related to al -Qaeda and Islamic State (IS).

But the Human Rights Watch (HRW) campaign group has accused the Malian’s government and Wagner’s Group of atrocities against civilians, including illegal killings, summarized executions and torture.

He has documented similar atrocities by Burkina Faso’s military and his allied militias.

For their services, the Wagner Group and now Africa Corps are often paid directly in gold or in mining concessions, according to Alex Lines from the London -based brain trust in Chatham House.

“Very little (from the gold revenue) will be reduced to Malians and Burkinabes,” he told the BBC, adding that in fact, the armed rebels themselves can benefit from gold.

After the coup in Mali in 2021, the brutal government tactics against communities suspected of attracting or sympathy for the jihadists increased by pushing more civilians to join the groups in which they fight.

Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a branch of al-Qaeda, which is the most active jihadist group in the region, organizes an unprecedented number of attacks aimed at the increasing power of Burkina Faso in the first half of 2025, so of the growing power of the group.

Armed groups also literally enter the increased global appetite for gold.

Much of the extraction of gold in Sahel is from the craft and small sector, which is often informal, which means that it is carried out on unlicensed and undeclared sites of government supervision, According to a 2023 report on gold extraction In Sahel, the United Nations and Crime Nations (UNODC) service.

Armed groups, including jihadist groups and Sahel governments, are competition to control many of these small -scale gold mines.

Gold provides an important flow of revenue for militant groups that seem to expand their territorial influence in both Mali and Burkina Faso.

Unodc believes that most gold of this type of yield find themselves in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a global center for the refining and trading of gold.

“You see the overlap of violent extremist groups passing to craftsmanship areas for control,” said Dr. Vrain.

The global jump in gold prices can be an extension and exacerbation of the conflict in Sahel – but unfortunately for the diggers in the craft gold mines, this did not lead to the fact that the owners increase their salaries.

A gold miner in the northern region of Mali Kidel agreed to answer written questions from the BBC provided for anonymity, of fear of his safety.

He estimated that in Good Day he won 10,000 to 20,000 cfa francs, or approximately $ 18 to $ 36 (£ 13 to £ 26).

The amount paid to him has not increased with the global gold prices, he said.

“The prices have increased, but the extra profit goes to the owners of mine … risky and uncertain, but for many of us this is the only option,” he added.

Dr. Wins, who previously worked as a UN blood diamond researcher, is concerned that gold has become the new major commodity of conflict in Africa.

He noted that gold has not received the same international attention as diamonds, which nourishes bloodshed in several African countries in the 20th century, especially in the 1990s.

The intervention of human rights and UN Groups led to the creation of the Kimberly Certification Scheme in 2003, which has done a lot to terminate the sale of so -called “blood diamonds” in the open market.

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

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

The implementation of these provisions of the UAE was historically deplorable.

In 2021, the country declared its own standards for ethical gold extraction – however, the frame remained voluntary. The issue of implementation has caused tension in the past between the state in the Persian Gulf and LBMA.

Technology tracking is another obstacle.

“There is no” DNA testing “for gold. With great effort, you can follow diamonds before being brushed and cut … But I have not seen ways to track the origin of a golden native,” said Dr. Vins.

Gold was melted at the beginning of the value chain, which makes it almost impossible to track and connect to potential conflict areas, he explained.

Dr. Wins believes that it is likely that some Sahel blood gold from Sahel is in the UK markets.

“(Gold) melts in () the UAE, then moves to the jewelry or dentistry or bars industry. Some of them clearly enter the UK. And after it is here, there is no way to test what it is.”

Another reason that it will be difficult to repeat the success of the Kimberly process, according to Dr. Lines, is that the certification system is not designed to deal with state governments.

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

So far, Gold’s importance to Sahel governments and the application of ethical gold standards means that the goods are likely to continue to change its hands, regardless of its origin.

Unfortunately for some Sahel communities, this may mean paying the blood trade.