How Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s gold wealth is creating a violent predicament

According to a recent study by conflict monitor ACLED, armed groups, including al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, are increasingly targeting roads and communities within a 10km radius of mining concessions in the Sahel.

For the junta-led countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, all of which exited the Economic Community of West African States to form their own regional umbrella, the Alliance of the Sahel States, security incidents are 90% gold-related.

Barrick Mining Corp., B2Gold Corp., Endeavour Mining Plc, and Allied Gold Corp. operate mining concessions within Mali and Burkina Faso, which constitute two of the foremost gold-producing nations in Africa.

According to the data from ACLED, as seen on Bloomberg, the proliferation of gold mining activities in the region affords militant organizations critical opportunities for revenue generation, tactical recruitment, and the expansion of their operational influence.

Mining areas are increasingly serving as “spaces where economic activity, security provision, governance, and armed contestation intersect,” ACLED’s West Africa analyst Heni Nsaibia and the report’s author wrote.

This shows that armed groups aim to destabilize the wider mining economy rather than simply seizing mineral resources, he added.

“What may begin as attacks on mining personnel, infrastructure, or transport can develop into broader competition over movement, territorial control, local authority, and access to resources,” Nsaibia continued.

In Mali, for example, mining regions have transitioned into hotbeds for fighting, where jihadist organizations, rebel factions, pro-government militias, state forces, and Russian-backed soldiers contend for land, mobility, and localized influence.

Most attacks are taking place “around the edges of these operations, against security positions or nearby facilities, because directly attacking an industrial mine requires more resources and carries significant risks,” Nsaibia said in a separate interview.

According to the country’s defense ministry, the attack led to 24 casualties, four of whom were security agents, and the rest from the assailants’ camp.

The assault, which lasted around 30 minutes, was reportedly linked to a uranium stockpile close to the attack area.

According to ACLED’s report, armed groups are focusing more on smaller, semi-mechanized mining businesses since they are simpler and more common targets.

“That’s also where we have seen several kidnappings of Chinese workers, with around a dozen incidents involving dozens of Chinese nationals over the past year,” Nsaibia added.

Investors have now identified an operational risk, as well as an overarching safety concern.

“They understand that the situation is becoming increasingly uncertain, and that is an argument for being more cautious with investments and engagement,” Nsaibia revealed.