US Edition'Blood Gold': How It Fuels Conflict in West Africa's Sahel Region
- On July 2, 2025, Mali's military thwarted coordinated assaults by the jihadist group JNIM across seven towns including Kayes and Binoli near the Senegal border.
- The attacks occurred amid a decade-long Islamist insurgency and separatist conflict fueled by competition for control over unregulated artisanal gold mines in the Sahel.
- JNIM claimed responsibility for the strikes, including seizing three barracks, while Malian forces reported neutralizing over 80 militants and recovering weapons and vehicles.
- The Sahel’s three main gold-producing states generate about 230 tonnes annually, valued at $15 billion, with both military regimes and jihadists relying on this blood gold.
- This illicit gold trade undermines state authority, fuels ongoing conflict, and threatens regional stability despite governmental claims of benefiting citizens and efforts to regulate the sector.
14 Articles
14 Articles
For millennia, gold has been a symbol of security and stability. But how vulnerable is its value to crises and new technologies?
Africa News Live Updates: Illicit 'blood gold' trade fuels conflict in West Africa's Sahel region
Africa News Live Updates: Welcome to our live blog covering the latest developments from across the continent. Follow real-time updates on political transitions, security and peacekeeping, regional integration, economic innovation, climate impacts, migration trends and grassroots activism. Stay informed on Africa’s evolving role in global affairs and its efforts to address challenges both within and beyond its borders
On Tuesday jihadists attacked Malian army positions in several localities in the western part of the country, including one located close to the Senegalese border, a new series of massive attacks in a context of renewed violence in the Sahel.
Deepening Footprint In Mali’s Gold Frontier
The heat of the Sahel sun rarely thins the air at Sanankoro and Kenieba, yet beneath those dusty plains something intriguing is unfolding. Two discreet permits straddling Mali’s southern belt and Senegal’s borderlands are beginning to reveal a dual narrative of scale and flexibility, challenging assumptions about where meaningful ounces might yet lie hidden. At Sanankoro, Cora Gold has pieced together five contiguous licences across some 342 km²…
Podcast: Russian influence rises in the Sahel, ft Critical Risk Team’s George McLeod on geopolitics and mining – The Northern Miner
This week’s episode features George McLeod, Mining Leader at Critical Risk Team, in conversation with host Adrian Pocobelli. McLeod unpacks recent developments in Africa’s Sahel region, including the expropriation of...
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