Who profits from Africa's gold?

While the price of this safe-haven commodity continues to rise, there is little return for producer countries. Refining capacity is low and the informal sector still dominates. Ecowas recommends formalising artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

​​​​​​​As the ultimate safe-haven asset, the price of gold soars in times of crisis. Fifteen years ago, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subprime crash in September 2008, the price of gold almost doubled in eighteen months, rising from $627 an ounce in 2009 (an ounce is equivalent to around 31.1 grams) to more than $1,000 in 2010. Over the past two years, the sometimes unexpected consequences of the war in Ukraine (the conflict precipitated the bankruptcy of Credit Suisse and its takeover by its historic rival UBS) have resulted in an ever-growing investor gold rush. The yellow metal now regularly crosses the $1,000 per ounce threshold ($2,110 in mid-March). Africa possesses around 40% of the world's gold reserves, and 34 African countries mine gold veins. According to the World Gold Council, the continent's top ten producers are now Ghana (127 tonnes in 2022), Mali (102), Burkina Faso (96), South Africa (92), Sudan (80), Guinea (63), Tanzania (51), Zimbabwe (49), Côte d'Ivoire (48)...