In the picture
Illegal mining in Djado, Niger [OCWAR-T]
In the Sahel region, gold has acquired enormous value. What once began as subsistence mining for the population has now become a huge Economics involving international organized crime and jihadist groups. As gold mines spread, the routes used to transport this mineral become blurred with those used by organized crime. The intersection of economic and armed networks has made gold a resource not only for criminals, but also for financing violence and the growth of terrorism. The result a system that finances violence, dismantles the state, and connects the Sahel to global markets.
The trade in minerals and precious stones lacks a regulatory framework and is an industry closely linked to problems and difficulties related to ethics, the environment, and workers, such as their age and extreme working conditions. In many situations, these practices represent an easier and more profitable way to launder money, which even destroys the environment, displaces communities, contaminates drinking water resources, and ignores legal requirements restrictions.
In this way, illegal mining is not simply an economic issue; it is also an activity that damages ecosystems, promotes criminal economies, and exacerbates the vulnerability of communities dependent on natural resources. Illegal mining generates a variety of negative consequences for the environment, habitats, human and animal populations, indigenous communities and their livelihoods, public health, economic systems, development the rule of law. Those who engage in it typically use equipment, devices, and chemicals that are harmful to the environment; this not only endangers their health, but also causes serious damage to the environment.
The Sahel, which encompasses countries such as Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad, benefits from its significant mineral deposits, notably gold and uranium, as well as hydrocarbon reserves. Despite this considerable wealth, natural resources have become the focus of an Economics that has become integrated into the dynamics of international organized crime.
Poverty and terrorism
Despite the abundance of gold, local populations hardly reap any benefits; the wealth generated is concentrated among the elites and fuels corruption and structural inequality, reflecting what is known as the phenomenon of the "resource curse." The United Nations highlights that more than 84% of the population in Chad lives in status , and around 53% in Senegal; unemployment is a major problem in Niger, where it stands at 33%.
Three Sahel nations—Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—rank among the top 10 countries most affected by terrorism, according to the 2024 Global Terrorism Index (GTI). The GTI is a composite measure of four indicators, including incidents, fatalities, injuries, and hostages. Burkina Faso ranks first, with a grade 8.5 and 111 incidents; Mali ranks third, with a score of 7.9 and 201 incidents; and Niger ranks fourth, grade a grade 7.7 and 101 incidents. These terrorist activities are mainly carried out by the two predominant groups in the Sahel: Jama'at Nusrat al Islam wa ak Muslimeen (JNIM), an affiliate of Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS), which operates as the local Saharan affiliate of the Islamic State.
Perverse entanglement
The expansion of mining has led to a proliferation of informal deposits in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Criminal networks are intertwined in the chain: they finance intermediaries, expel rival cooperatives, and mix illegal gold with formal production before exporting it to refineries outside Africa, where the metal loses all traceability.
This is where the two worlds intersect: organized crime networks provide the transnational infrastructure, as well as trade and smuggling, while jihadist groups offer territorial protection in exchange for a share of the profits. In this way, gold becomes a currency of exchange the two parties.
Although organized crime and jihadist terrorism differ in motivation and methods, both converge functionally around gold. This relationship is based on pragmatic cooperation. The result a hybrid Economics that strengthens both actors and further weakens state authority in the Sahel.
This region is the ideal place for criminal organizations and terrorist groups to operate freely. They carry out illegal activities that are adapted to local conditions and international demand for resources, for which it is essential to expand their territory and control trade routes.
It should be noted that illegal mining cannot be understood solely as a problem of internal governance, as this is not the only reason why this phenomenon occurs. Its cross-border dimension makes the region a highly strategic location within the new criminal economies. Gold extracted in areas under jihadist control is transported along complex routes that connect it to the international financial system. Research shows that the metal, mixed with some legal production, is exported to refineries in countries such as Dubai or Switzerland, where it loses its traceability. This 'laundering' process turns gold into a safe, portable, and anonymous asset, highly valued for money laundering and tax evasion.
Thus, gold from the Sahel not only finances violence at the local level, but also feeds illegal capital flows that cross borders and end up becoming part of the global Economics .
Although jihadist groups control part of the extraction and levy taxes on production, gold remains a resource transcends Structures national Structures . International criminal networks intervene in the later stages: they buy the ore from local intermediaries, transport it to regional markets such as Bamako or Lomé, and export it to refineries in Dubai or Istanbul where it is laundered and integrated into legal circuits.
The convergence between crime and terrorism does not imply a merger, but rather cooperation. This balance of interests has created an illicit ecosystem that replaces the state in providing security and resources, weakening governance and perpetuating instability.
This economic-political articulation produces a symbiosis: armed groups obtain resources and territorial control, while criminal networks gain secure access to subject and internationalization channels; for its part, the state is displaced in the provision of security and regulation. In practical terms, the result a criminal structure that operates as a financing and logistics platform for violence.
The phenomenon also has significant geopolitical implications. The Sahel is emerging as a region of great interest to external powers, including the European Union, Russia, and China, in the framework the skill strategic resources and the energy transition. This reinforces the conversion of natural resources into instruments of control and dependence, turning gold into a means of influence at the international level.
Overcoming the problem through cooperation
Beyond the Sahel, this phenomenon reflects a structural transformation of international crime: its growing integration into global trade and finance flows. Illegal gold circulates within the global economic system. In this sense, the Sahel functions as a laboratory for new global crime, in which natural resources are replacing arms and drugs as source power.
The only way to break the cycle in which the Sahel's natural resources fuel violence rather than guarantee peace is through joint action that integrates transparency, security, and development. This joint action could bring together the region's governments, continental organizations (such as the African Union), and various international organizations, starting with the UN, while paying attention to the opinions of local communities.
This cooperation should help to ensure the traceability of gold through transparent systems, joint and coordinated action by forces that could restore and ensure security in the region, and the promotion of alternative economies that help development and thus reduce their dependence on illegal mining. Only in this way can the convergence between the Economics , criminal networks, and jihadist groups that currently persist in the Sahel be weakened.