New sources of funding on which terrorist groups, in North and West Africa, rely, mainly represented in gold, especially in light of the spread of many unofficial mines, over which governments do not have security control.
In Chad, it was recently revealed the size of the estimated money for gold smuggling, as the head of the Chadian Transitional Military Council, Mohamed Idriss Deby, said that the value of the quantities of gold smuggled from his country every week is estimated at 57 billion CFA francs (91 million dollars), a large number that exceeds 3 billion dollars annually.
According to experts, terrorist groups, in western and northern Africa, have become more dependent on gold, similar to the reliance of their counterparts in Iraq and Syria on oil.
Experts explain that the dependence on gold is due to the spread of many mines in most countries outside the control of the government, as well as attracting tens of thousands to work in these mines under the temptations of getting rich quickly and recruiting them into the ranks of groups.
smuggling tens of tons of gold
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that only informal mines in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger produce a total of about 50 tons of gold as of 2019.
According to estimates and reports, tons of gold are smuggled annually from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic and Niger.
According to the official website of the World Gold Council, Ghana came in the top ten list with 138.7 tons, followed by South Africa with 99.2 tons, Mali with 93.8 tons, Burkina Faso with 93.4 tons, Sudan with 83.8 tons, the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 60.9 tons, and Guinea 56.9 tons Papua New Guinea 53.1 tons, Tanzania 45.9 tons, Zimbabwe 40.9 tons, Cote d’Ivoire 36.4 tons, Senegal 15.8 tons, Mauritania 15.6 tons, Egypt 14.1 tons, Ethiopia 13.1 tons, Namibia 8.8 tons, while the rest of the African countries 117 tons.
The spread of smuggling in Africa
In the context, political researcher Muhammad Shaat said that gold smuggling is widely spread in about 9 countries in North and West Africa, and that terrorist groups and criminal networks rely heavily on it.
In his speech to “Sputnik”, he added that gold smuggling in large quantities is carried out through the “ISIS” organization in West Africa, in addition to many groups there, especially in light of the rise in gold prices after the Corona pandemic.
He pointed out that terrorist organizations impose taxes on gangs and groups engaged in mining in order to obtain funding for their members.
According to Shaat, some countries support smuggling operations in order to benefit from the smuggled gold, as well as the use of groups and organizations to achieve subversive strategies and objectives.
Attracting new items
He pointed to the marginalization that African countries suffer from, which makes the temptations offered by the groups by allowing exploration and work in such places factors and incentives to join their ranks.
He pointed out that about 100,000 workers in Nigeria are working in unofficial mines for gold, and that such a number is in other countries, including Chad, Niger and Mali.
He stressed that the organizations in the region practice all kinds of illegal trade, but they rely heavily on the gold trade in the region, given its spread in areas outside the control of the security governments in the region.
public smuggling
For his part, al-Abed Mustafa al-Bashir, a Chadian human rights lawyer, said that the quantities of gold mentioned by the President of the Transitional Military Council were not smuggled in secret, but were extracted openly by many groups and individuals due to the absence of a law regulating exploration, or the failure to activate existing laws.
In his speech to “Sputnik”, he added that the late Chadian president allowed these operations for several reasons, including providing support to Sudanese movements that enjoy the sponsorship and support of N’Djamena, such as the “Justice and Equality” movement and the “Sudan Liberation Army” movement, two movements that have a tribal relationship with the late president.
organized loot
The Chadian jurist believes that the second reason is related to the organized looting by France of Chadian minerals, especially gold and uranium.
He believes that allowing the groups to loot the gold was also linked to the objectives of occupying the Chadian border residents for not joining the ranks of the opposition.
gold alternative to oil
He stressed that gold is an alternative to oil for extremist groups and gangs in the Sahel and Sahara region, and pointed to the new changes that have taken place on the scene related to France’s change of its strategy.
In Côte d’Ivoire, nearly 30 tons are smuggled annually, while the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that informal mines in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger collectively produce about 50 tons of gold worth $2 billion each year.
The terrorist organization “ISIS” (banned in Russia and several other countries) seeks to include many groups in West and North Africa under its banner, especially since the region includes many groups, including “Boko Haram”, “Nasr al-Islam” and many extremist groups. .
Terror
During the year 2021, Africa witnessed an increase in the number of terrorist operations compared to 2020, where the number of operations reached 735 operations, which varied between terrorist attacks, suicide operations and assassinations.
According to a statistic by the “Trends” center, Nigeria topped the countries most affected by terrorist operations in that region; During 2021, it witnessed about 125 terrorist attacks, and the number of deaths decreased by 42.6% compared to 2020, when more than 720 people were killed and about 290 others were injured, in addition to the kidnapping of about 1,020 people.
In Niger, the terrorist operations index rose by 52.9%, and the number of victims increased by 73% compared to 2020, when the country witnessed about 50 terrorist attacks that killed more than 775 people.
Last year, the Sahel region witnessed more than 165 terrorist attacks, including 85 in Mali, which left 695 people dead or wounded, in addition to the kidnapping of about 20 others.