The year has been good for gold. The turbulence verified in the global economy raised the prices of this precious mineral, which reached records in 2025 – which became the salvation board of military joints besieged by jihadist insurgents in various African countries.
In a world marked by uncertainty brought by the new wave of protectionism in the United States and a series of international conflicts, gold comes to investors as one of Few stable assets remnants.
Everyone wants to participate in this market, from central banks and large investment funds to small investors. But few know where this gold comes from.
Most are unaware of conflicts that can be fed by metal extraction in several countries. And for Governments of the Sahel RegionIn West Africa, bets are even higher.
Gold is the Military Board Salvation Board From Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, besieged by jihadist insurgents, regional isolation and the devastation caused by climate change.
“Because gold prices have reached a historic peak… Military governments hope to be able to benefit directly,” researcher Beverly Ochieng of Global Control Risks told BBC.
Together, the three states of Sahel produce about 230 tons of gold per yearaccording to the estimates of the World Gold Council. This volume is equivalent to about $ 15 billion for the current market price.
And the lack of records of artisanal gold mining and on a small scale indicates that this number is probably underestimated.
Combined metal production in all three states is larger than in any other country in Africa. With this, the Sahel region has become an important supplier of the world gold market.
Governments claim that the income of this lucrative market benefits citizens for promoting national “sovereignty”. But the Russian companies They are increasing their participation in the sector, at the expense of western companies.
The leader of the Mali Military Junta, Gen. Assimi Goïta, for example, deposited last month the cornerstone of a gold refinery, which will have the minority participation of the Russian conglomerate called Yadran Group. The refinery will be said to create 500 direct and 2,000 indirect jobs.
Burkina Faso is also building First gold refinery of your history. To this end, the country formed a state mining company and requires foreign companies to grant it a 15% share of its local operations, as well as transferring knowledge to citizens of the country.
Fake Press Campaigns, created by AI, were launched to honor the country’s charismatic military ruler – Captain Ibrahim Traoré, 37 – for establishing such an important source of income for the nation.
“Golden mining comes from the deepest land. But the souls are rich and true“Sing the Rihanna generated by a recent song. His soft self -programmed compliment addresses Captain Traoré.
But the reality is very different, according to Ochieng, who explains that Burkina Faso and neighboring countries need quick money to fund the campaign to combat insurgents.
In the case of Mali, much of this money was sent to Russian mercenariesincluding the Wagner group and its successor, Africa Corps, under the command of the Russian Defense Minister.
A Africa Corps participates in military training In Burkina Faso, but the local ruler board officially denies her presence.
Despite the poor transparency of public spending from the three countries, its governments are believed to dedicate a large portion of their budget to national security.
Military spending in Mali tripled since 2010. They represented 22% of the national budget in 2020.
Local governments fight against jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. But the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization accuses the government of Mali and the Wagner group to commit atrocities against civilians, including murders, summary executions and torture.
HRW has documented similar atrocities committed by the Burkina Faso army and its allied militias.
For its services, the Wagner group and now Africa Corps often receive gold payments or mining concessionsaccording to Alex Vines of Think Tank (Research and Debate Center) Chatham House, based in London.
“Very little [das receitas de ouro] It reaches the citizens of Mali and Burkina Faso, ”he told BBC. Vines points out that, in fact, armed insurgents may be benefiting from gold.
Since the military coup at Mali in 2021, the use of brutal tactics has increased by the government against suspicious communities welcome or sympathize with jihadistswhich led more civilians to enter the groups that are fighting.
The region’s most active jihadist group-Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM), affiliated with Al-Qaeda-performed an unprecedented number of attacks on Burkina Faso’s army during the first half of 2025, a clear sign of its strengthening.
Armed groups are also making money by increasing global gold headquarters.
Much of the gold extracted in Sahel comes from the handcrafted and small scale sector. Often, the Extraction is informal And it occurs in unlicensed and non -declared places, far from government supervision, according to a 2023 report on gold mining at Sahel, prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Armed groups, including jihadists, and Sahel governments compete for the control of many of these small gold mines. Metal provides an important source of income for militant groups, which are apparently expanding their territorial influence on Mali and Burkina Faso.
Unodc believes that most of the gold extracted in this way ends up United Arab Emiratesa global center of refining and gold trade.
The association of the London Precious Metal Market (LBMA) is an important Gold Market authority that requires refiners to meet guidelines -based standards defined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
But the execution of these standards by the United Arab Emirates historically is irregular. In 2021, the country announced its own gold ethical mining standards, but its adoption is still voluntary.
This issue of the execution of the standards has already caused tensions between the state of the Gulf and the LBMA in the past. And tracking technology represents another obstacle.
“There is no ‘DNA test’ for gold“Vines explains.“ With a lot of effort, diamonds can be traced before they are polished and cut. But I don’t know ways to track the origins of a golden cute. ”
At the moment, the importance of gold for the Sahel governments and the irregular execution of ethical patterns in relation to metal means that it will probably continue to change hands, regardless of its origin.
And unfortunately for some Sahel communities, this can mean the opening of the way to trade with blood.
