How 'blood gold' is fuelling conflict in West Africa

It has been a bully twelvemonth for gold. A big of turbulent events successful the planetary system has driven up prices for the glittery commodity to grounds highs successful 2025.

In a satellite of tariffs and planetary conflict, golden appeals to investors arsenic 1 of the fewer remaining unchangeable assets. Everyone wants a portion of the action, from cardinal banks to ample institutions similar hedge funds, and retail investors. But fewer cognize wherever their golden comes from, oregon overmuch astir the conflicts it whitethorn beryllium fuelling successful the countries wherever it is mined.

For the governments of West Africa's Sahel region, the stakes are adjacent higher. Gold is simply a lifeline for the subject juntas of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, who are beleaguered by jihadist insurgencies, determination isolation, and the ravages of clime change.

"Because golden prices person been astatine a historical high… the subject governments are hoping that they volition beryllium capable to payment directly," Beverly Ochieng, a elder researcher astatine planetary consultancy steadfast Control Risks, told the BBC.

Together, the 3 Sahel states nutrient astir 230 tonnes of golden per year, according to the World Gold Council's estimates, oregon astir $15bn (£11bn) astatine the existent marketplace rate.

A deficiency of records for artisanal and small-scale golden mining means that this fig is astir apt an underestimate.

The combined golden accumulation successful these 3 states surpasses immoderate different state successful Africa, making the Sahel portion a large planetary contributor to the golden market.

The governments accidental that the proceeds from the lucrative assemblage are benefitting citizens done accrued "sovereignty" - though Russian firms are expanding their involvement successful the manufacture astatine the disbursal of Western-owned firms.

For example, Mali's junta person Gen Assimi Goïta laid the instauration chromatic past period for a golden refinery, successful which a Russian conglomerate, the Yadran Group, volition person a number stake. The refinery volition reportedly make 500 nonstop jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs.

Burkina Faso is besides gathering its first-ever golden refinery, and has acceptable up a state-owned mining company, requiring overseas firms to springiness it a 15% involvement successful their section operations and to transportation skills to Burkinabé people.

Fake AI media campaigns person adjacent been launched to observe the country's charismatic 37-year-old subject ruler Capt Ibrahim Traoré for commanding specified an important gross watercourse for the nation.

"Mining golden from deepest dirt. But souls are affluent and true," croons an AI-generated Rihanna successful 1 caller song, pouring her silky, auto-tuned praise connected Capt Traoré.

The world is precise different, according to Ms Ochieng, who explained that Burkina Faso and its neighbours request speedy currency to money counterinsurgency campaigns.

In the lawsuit of Mali, overmuch of this has been outsourced to Russian mercenaries, including the Wagner Group and its successor, Africa Corps, which falls nether the bid of Russia's defence ministry.

Africa Corps has been progressive successful subject grooming successful Burkina Faso, but the junta officially denies its presence.

Although nationalist spending transparency successful the countries is poor, the governments are thought to give ample portions of their budgets to nationalist security.

Military spending successful Mali trebled since 2010, amounting to 22% of the nationalist fund by 2020.

The governments are warring jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS).

But run radical Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Malian authorities and the Wagner Group of committing atrocities against civilians, including unlawful killings, summary executions, and torture.

It has documented akin atrocities by Burkina Faso's subject and its allied militias.

For their services, the Wagner Group and present Africa Corps are often paid straight successful golden oregon successful mining concessions, according to Alex Vines of the London-based Chatham House think-tank.

"Very small [of the golden revenues] volition trickle down to Malians and Burkinabés," helium told the BBC, adding that successful information the equipped insurgents themselves whitethorn beryllium benefiting from gold.

Since the coup successful Mali successful 2021, brutal authorities tactics against communities suspected of harbouring oregon sympathising with jihadists person increased, pushing much civilians to articulation the precise groups they are fighting.

Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate which is the astir progressive jihadist radical successful the region, staged an unprecedented fig of attacks targeting Burkina Faso subject during the archetypal fractional of 2025, a motion of the group's increasing strength.

The equipped groups are besides virtually cashing successful connected the accrued planetary appetite for gold.

A ample proportionality of golden mining successful the Sahel is from the artisanal and small-scale sector, which is often informal, meaning it takes spot connected unlicensed and undeclared sites distant from authorities oversight, according to a 2023 study connected golden mining successful the Sahel by the United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Armed groups, including jihadist groups, and Sahel governments are successful contention for power implicit galore of these small-scale golden mines.

Gold provides an important gross watercourse for militant groups, which look to beryllium expanding their territorial power successful some Mali and Burkina Faso.

The UNODC believes that astir golden from this benignant of mining ends up successful the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a planetary centre for golden refining and trading.

"You bash spot overlap of convulsive extremist groups moving onto artisanal accumulation areas for control," said Dr Vines.

The planetary spike successful golden prices whitethorn beryllium prolonging and exacerbating struggle successful the Sahel - but, unluckily for the diggers successful artisanal golden mines, it has not led to owners expanding their wages.

One golden miner successful Mali's bluish Kidal portion agreed to respond to written questions from the BBC connected information of anonymity, for fearfulness of his safety.

He estimated that, connected a "good day", helium earns 10,000 to 20,000 CFA francs, oregon astir $18 to $36 (£13 to £26).

The magnitude helium is paid has not accrued alongside planetary golden prices, helium said.

"Prices went up, but the other nett goes to excavation owners… It's risky and uncertain, but for galore of us, it's the lone option," helium added.

Dr Vines, who formerly worked arsenic a humor diamond researcher for the UN, is acrophobic that golden has go Africa's caller main struggle commodity.

He noted that golden has not received the aforesaid planetary attraction arsenic diamonds, which fuelled bloodshed successful respective African states passim the 20th Century, particularly during the 1990s.

Intervention by quality rights groups and the UN led to the constitution of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme successful 2003, which did overmuch to extremity the merchantability of alleged "blood diamonds" connected the unfastened market.

But attempts to ace down connected "blood gold" person been little successful.

This is partially owed to a deficiency of unified ethical standards. The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), a large authorization successful the golden market, requires refiners to comply with standards based connected guidelines acceptable by a planetary body, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OED).

The UAE's enforcement of these regulations has historically been patchy.

In 2021, the state announced its ain standards for ethical golden mining - however, the model remains voluntary. The contented of enforcement has caused tensions successful the past betwixt the Gulf authorities and the LBMA.

Tracing exertion represents different hurdle.

"There is nary 'DNA testing' for gold. With a batch of effort, you tin hint diamonds earlier they get polished and cut… But I haven't seen ways of tracing the origins of a golden nugget," Dr Vines said.

Gold is smelted aboriginal connected successful the worth chain, making it astir intolerable to hint and link to imaginable struggle zones, helium explained.

Dr Vines believes that it is apt that immoderate humor golden from the Sahel ends up successful UK markets.

"[Gold] gets smelted successful [the] UAE, past goes onto the jewellery manufacturing industry, oregon into dentistry, oregon bullion. Some of it intelligibly comes into the UK. And erstwhile it is here, determination is nary mode of investigating what it is."

Another crushed that it volition beryllium hard to repetition the successes of the Kimberley process, according to Dr Vines, is due to the fact that the certification strategy was not designed to woody with authorities governments.

"Kimberley was designed to woody with equipped non-state actors successful places similar Sierra Leone and Liberia," helium said.

For now, gold's value for Sahel governments and the patchy enforcement of ethical golden standards mean that the commodity is apt to proceed changing hands, careless of its origin.

Unfortunately for immoderate communities successful the Sahel, that whitethorn mean paying for the commercialized successful blood.