The global gold price, at record highs, is clearly showing how African geopolitics is intrinsically conditioned by this and other strategic minerals.
The other day in a conversation with friends the detail came up that in a gift for a celebration, this had consisted of a small bar of gold. And this is not the first time I have heard something like this in the last year. With a price already above 4,350 dollars per ounce (about 3,740 euros for 31 grams), this mineral is at its highest price ever, which consolidates its value as a safe-haven investment all over the world, displacing the dollar and the euro in transactions.
There are several reasons for this, but experts agree that it is geopolitical volatility. Since Trump's tariffs and the growing conflict in the world, rising inflation... many central banks are turning to gold by increasing their reserves to reduce their exposure to the dollar. And that, of course, has boosted demand.
Today I wanted to explain to you that this metal is currently playing a fundamental role in explaining the geopolitical movements that are taking place in Africa, and that this also has a tragic and dark component in our neighbouring continent.
This week I read an article by Julián Gómez Cambronero, author of the blog El Congo en español, in which he reflected that in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo the value of gold should not be measured in dollars per ounce, but in lives lost, in invisible tragedies. In this and many other African countries, gold is extracted from the earth through artisanal mining, an activity that is in itself very dangerous (collapse of mines), extremely polluting for the environment and the people who work in it (mercury and cyanide are used) and, obviously, illegal. It is also very obvious that the exploitation of gold from artisanal mining entails the exploitation of men, women and children whose wages are immune to the price boom on the international market: they continue to be exploited, earning little or nothing.
Tragically, these risks often materialise: in a single incident in mid-February at an illegal mine in Mali, the collapse resulted in the deaths of 48 people. In the DRC, unstable terrain or improper use of explosives have led to landslides such as the one experienced at the Lomera artisanal mine in South Kivu in July 2025, where hundreds of miners were trapped in shafts slightly wider than a man's body.
In recent weeks we have written several articles in which we have mentioned the role of so-called ‘blood gold’ in fuelling conflicts from the Sahel to Sudan to the DRC. Armed groups, including jihadist militias (such as JNIM, attached to Al Qaeda), and rival factions (as in Sudan), fight for control of the deposits to finance their operations and arms purchases, thus establishing alliances that add novelty to this difficult and complex map of geopolitical tensions that the African continent is becoming.
In fact, in countries such as the DRC, it is estimated that only 10% of the gold mined goes through legal channels, while the rest is trafficked illegally, losing billions of dollars annually in tax revenues. This gold is «laundered» through neighbouring countries (Rwanda, Uganda) and mainly ends up in global trading centres in countries such as the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Turkey and China.
Because, unlike conflict diamonds, gold has a traceability problem: it is difficult to trace once melted, making it easy for «blood gold» to enter global supply chains without the consumer having the slightest idea of its provenance.
Africa has always had lots and lots of gold. This precious metal has, for centuries, been a fundamental pillar in shaping its global economic weight. West Africa in particular has stood out as an epicentre of gold mining since ancient times. Its historical wealth dates back to the ancient Empire of Ghana, famous for its vast reserves and dynamic trade networks, which earned it the nickname “Land of Gold” (today Ghana ranks highest in the African gold mining rankings at 140 metric tons per year).
Or we can refer in the history books to Mansa Musa, 14th century emperor of Mali, famous for having made his kingdom one of the richest in the world thanks to gold. Under his rule, Mali controlled vast gold mines and trade routes that supplied much of the Islamic world's gold. His legendary pilgrimage to Mecca, in which he distributed so much gold along the way that it destabilised local economies, symbolises the economic and cultural power that gold gave Mali in global history.
And now, seven centuries later, at a complex time for Mali and the Sahel as a whole, gold remains central and provides clues to some of what is happening. Military governments in the region - Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso - have adopted policies of resource nationalism, revising their mining codes (such as Mali's new legal framework in 2023) and pressuring or expropriating Western companies, arguing to end decades of foreign exploitation.
In this geopolitical vacuum, Russia has emerged as the main strategic beneficiary, using African gold, as some have written, as a “shadow monetary ecosystem” and a “sanctions-proof asset” to finance Putin's ongoing conflicts in places like Syria and Ukraine.
The construction of a gold refinery in Mali, in partnership with a Russian business conglomerate called Yadran, reinforces this dynamic: military juntas exchange security for access to resources, deepening their economic dependence. In addition, control of mining operations in countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali has been formalised under structures run by the Russian Defence Ministry and military intelligence (GRU), now under the name “Africa Corps”, replacing the Wagner Group.
And it is not just Russia. China is also playing hardball with gold and is playing an active role in the expansion of illegal mining on an industrial scale in countries such as Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Several investigations and newspaper articles have reported on this.
It is estimated, for example, that at least 15 gold-rich countries have initiated legal proceedings against Chinese citizens and companies for illegal activities since early 2024, noting that the opaquely mined metal evades taxation and ends up being sold in global trading centres before reaching China.
It may sound like an unrealistic wish, but ideally this new gold boom on the African continent should not replicate neo-colonial patterns, be they European, Russian, Chinese or Persian Gulf monarchies. The key would be for African governments to be able to manage, capture and reverse the value generated by their resources for the development of their citizens and their economies.
And that the enormous existing artisanal mining industry can be regularised through legal permits and concessions, whose benefits also allow for progress towards maximum respect for the environment and fair and dignified compensation for its workers.
I insist, it may sound utopian, but the only way to put an end to blood gold and all the death and misery it entails is through transparency in all the agreements signed and through an international consensus that finally admits that it is Africans who should mainly benefit from the fact that they have gold in their subsoil.
In this regard, the other day I spoke to you in an article about the latest book we have published at Casa África, about Patricio Lumumba, the mythical leader of Congolese independence. This was precisely the main message he was fighting for.
So it is no wonder that, however expensive gold is, and however many small bars we buy as a safe haven, we should ask ourselves whether that gold, when mined, has caused the death of people in another part of the world, most likely in Africa.