The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has cultivated robust diplomatic relations with the Sahel region, heavily underpinned by the lucrative gold trade. While not a gold producer itself, the UAE has strategically positioned itself as a pivotal hub for the global gold market, boasting a sophisticated ecosystem that includes refineries, numerous traders, advanced logistics companies, and free trade zones. This infrastructure facilitates 11% of global gold exports and supports over 4,000 jewelry workshops and 1,200 retail stores, employing approximately 60,000 individuals. To maintain this leading role and ensure the profitability of its refining industry, Dubai requires a sustainable and substantial gold supply, with Africa serving as a primary source.

In 2024, the UAE imported nearly 1,400 tons of gold, valued at over $105 billion, with more than half—$748 billion—originating from Africa. Despite repeated commitments to transparent sourcing, the UAE continues to accept gold from informal channels, often of uncertain origin. The Sahel countries, including Sudan, Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Mauritania, are central to this supply chain. These nations are also actively combating terrorism, an effort in which the UAE claims to be a global partner, having provided $750 million in aid to the then G5 Sahel countries between 2018 and 2023.

Sudan, recognized as the leading Arab gold producer, possesses nearly 40,000 exploration sites and 60 refining companies primarily located in the Nile, northern, and Red Sea regions. In 2024, UAE's gold purchases from Sudan significantly increased to 29 tons, up from 17 tons in 2023. This surge coincided with escalating civil conflict in Sudan, leading the United States to sanction 11 companies, many UAE-registered, in 2024 for allegedly facilitating the financing of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with gold, a conflict that began in April 2023.

Substantial quantities of gold also transit through neighboring countries. For instance, 27 tons came from Egypt and 18 from Chad. Libya, home to a vast gold deposit in the Al-Owaynat mountain range, is another significant source. The UAE stands accused of acquiring Libyan gold, through various channels, from Marshal Haftar. In 2020, Libyan refineries reportedly released 450 tons of gold onto the market, but since then, Libya has lost an estimated 50 to 55 tons of gold, worth nearly $3 billion, to traffickers. In exchange for this gold, the UAE is reported to provide the Libyan Revolutionary Guard (FRG) with logistical support, weapons, equipment, and medical care, thereby fueling the ongoing war economy. Refineries (both official and unofficial) and airports are identified as vulnerable transit points, sometimes operating under the same name.

The Central Sahel region, particularly Mali, Africa's second-largest gold producer, demonstrates a highly profitable gold trade where 81% of production is extracted by companies linked to the UAE. The kidnapping of a retired Emirati general in September 2025 near Bamako, on an estate suspected of being a central hub for gold trade between Mali, the UAE, and other destinations, vividly underscored this reality. In 2023, sales of Malian gold generated 1,926 billion CFA francs.

Significant volumes of gold reportedly exported to the UAE also emanate from Burkina Faso and Togo, despite the latter not producing gold on a comparable scale. Over 52 tons of Togolese gold, valued at $4 billion, were purportedly exported to the UAE in 2024, with a portion believed to originate from the broader region. In the same year, nearly 32% of Burkina Faso's gold was allegedly sold to the UAE. Further evidence of illicit trade emerged in early January 2024 with the seizure of 1,578 kilograms of Nigerien gold, worth over 60 billion CFA francs, at Addis Ababa airport. This shipment, lacking official documentation, was bound for Dubai. A stark discrepancy was revealed between Niger's official 2022 gold exports of 235 kg (less than €10 million) and Dubai's declared imports from Niger reaching €457 million, attributed to illicit trafficking. In response, Nigerien authorities replaced 82 customs, police, forestry, and gendarmerie officers at Diori-Hamani Airport in Niamey and, despite criticism from Transparency International, ordered a freeze on all existing mining exploitation rights.

In the Liptako-Gourma region, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have initiated efforts to reorganize their gold sectors. This aims to maximize profits amidst rising gold prices and address the critical need for financial resources to combat terrorism. These countries are also asserting sovereignty by taking control of mines, renegotiating contracts, and planning new refineries. In May 2025, Emirati Minister of State, Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, visited Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Niamey. In Mali, he solidified a security partnership and discussed strategic investments in solar energy (like the Touna power plant), agriculture, and health. Although discussions on revitalizing bilateral cooperation were held, no official statements concerning gold were made public in any of the three countries, suggesting a desire for confidentiality in this sensitive sector.

Other countries also maintain flourishing gold trade with the UAE. Chad's artisanal gold exports to the UAE reached $2 billion in 2024. The two nations signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2023 to develop the sector, covering exploration, mining, training, and technology acquisition. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed in October 2023 that over $3 billion (approximately 1.5 trillion CFA francs) in gold exports had not been recorded in Chad's public accounts, leading to a commitment from authorities to include mining revenues in the state budget starting in 2026. Chad also announced plans for four new processing plants in 2023.

Cameroon's official gold exports to the UAE between 2019 and 2020 amounted to a mere $0.8 million, or about 480 million CFA francs. However, Dubai's declared imports from Cameroon during the same period reached $340 million, or approximately 204 billion CFA francs, highlighting a massive discrepancy. This resulted in Cameroon's suspension from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2021. In Mauritania, the Tasiast gold mine, operated by Canada's Kinross Gold, significantly increased production, generating over $780 million for the state in 2020. Alarmingly, an estimated up to 70% of Mauritania's unofficial gold market production is believed to go to Dubai.

Ultimately, the UAE's gold transactions with the Sahel region are characterized by weak transparency. By sourcing products from artisanal mining, there is a real risk of acquiring gold from disreputable actors, especially given that terrorists have seized traditional mining sites in many Sahelian countries. Despite these pervasive concerns, Dubai is widely accepted as a technical partner in the reorganization of the gold sector in several Sahel countries, particularly Mali and Chad, underscoring the complex and often contradictory nature of these relationships.