This archive report was first published on 4 December 2019.
How Jihadists Exploit Gold Mines in Africa's Sahel ¶
December 4, 2019
People around Pama, a West African town on the edge of vast forested conservation areas, had long been forbidden by their government to dig for gold in the reserves, to protect antelope, buffalo, and elephants. However, in mid-2018, men wearing turbans changed the rules, allowing residents to mine in the protected areas under certain conditions.
These armed men, who rode in with assault rifles on motorbikes and in 4X4 trucks, sent government troops and rangers fleeing from the area in eastern Burkina Faso bordering the Sahel, a belt of scrubland south of the Sahara Desert. The men told residents not to worry, but to pray, said one miner who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.
Groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are expanding in Africa and exploiting gold mines across the region, data on attacks and interviews with miners and government officials show. Besides attacking industrial operations, these extremist forces are tapping the $2 billion informal gold trade in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger – a flow that is largely out of state control.
Researchers and the United Nations have warned of the risks of armed extremists reaching the region's gold mines. According to analysis of data from Burkina Faso and testimony from people who have fled mining areas, this is happening at scale. The mines serve as a hideout and a treasure trove for the Islamists, providing funds to recruit new members and buy arms, as well as explosives and detonators to stage attacks.
Burkina Faso has become the focus of a campaign by local insurgents and regional jihadi groups, with hundreds of people killed, including at least 39 gold mine workers ambushed on a road earlier this month. Dozens of robberies and kidnappings have been reported that target mining, with the attacks extending towards hundreds of small-scale mines in Burkina Faso alone.
According to a government survey of satellite imagery in 2018, around 2,200 possible informal gold mines were identified, with about half of them within 25 km of places where militants have carried out attacks. The militants' advance has traced a route from the north towards the south and the east of the country, carving a path through some of Burkina Faso's richest gold fields.
It is difficult to estimate how much gold the mines produce or exactly who controls them, but the sums involved are huge. In 2018, government officials visited just 24 sites near where attacks had taken place and estimated they produced a total of 727 kg of gold per year – worth about $34 million at current prices.
Burkina Faso's minister of mines, Oumarou Idani, said in May that Islamists had taken control of some mines, especially in protected areas, where they encouraged camps of miners to dig in violation of government bans.
