ISIS and al-Qaeda competing for mining areas in Africa

Nahla Abdel Moneim

Competition between ISIS and al-Qaeda has manifested in African areas affected by political and security weakness, in addition to mineral resources as a major variable in terrorist focal points on the map of the continent.

Mineral and natural resources in African countries have become the focus of great attention for terrorist organizations, given that they are used as sources of funding to support the needs of extremist elements in terms of purchasing weapons and military equipment and spending on daily needs, in addition to the political and strategic variable to use these resources to put pressure on states.

Africa’s treasures and map of al-Qaeda’s spread

The geographical location of al-Qaeda elements is affected by the areas of mines and valuable resources. The spread of the terrorist organization in Mali makes the neighboring regions a target, especially Burkina Faso, which is famous for its gold mines, as well as Niger.

Al-Qaeda carried out several attacks in Burkina Faso against workers in mining companies in order to intimidate them and influence foreign companies investing in the sector. On November 6, 2019, al-Qaeda attacked five vehicles transporting workers and employees of the Canadian mining company Semafo while they were on their way to work in the Boungou gold mine located in the north of the country.

The terrorist organization also killed 20 people in another attack on the Dolmane mine in Arbinda, Burkina Faso, on October 4, 2019. The attacks against the country’s mines caused an official decision by the authorities to close some mining sites so that they could be completely secured in order not to harm wealth or workers. In northern Niger, the group is attacking uranium mining sites, as well as workers of the French company Areva, which is responsible for the sector in the region.

Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda branch in Somalia, profits from the high-quality charcoal that the country is famous for and sells large quantities of it to Iran, which re-exports it to the world for huge sums, as confirmed by a United Nations report in October 2018.

These moves include possibilities for aid provided by states sponsoring terrorism to these organizations to be a tool in stealing the capabilities of peoples to benefit from them. The aforementioned attacks and the threat they pose to the lives of foreign workers in African regions remain an addition to the burdens on investors in a way that threatens a rise in prices that affects vital areas that use these minerals.

The wealth of countries close to Mali is one of the reasons for ISIS calling its members to compete with al-Qaeda’s presence in these areas. In April 2019, ISIS confirmed its agreement to establish new branches in Mali and Burkina Faso, resulting in a series of competition between the two terrorist organizations in important African locations.

Mining sites and ISIS localization in Africa

ISIS attacks in the Cabo Delago region of northern Mozambique began to attract the attention of politicians recently, as this region possesses great wealth, including large, widespread gas reserves, where a Russian mining company invests based on an official agreement between Mozambique and Russia.

However, ISIS attacks in the region and near the areas of gas exploration threaten major investments in the region, and in addition to that, Cabo Delago is characterized as a coastal region that includes tourist cities, which ISIS threatens with attacks that intimidate foreign residents, threatening all sources of income coming from the region.

The importance of metals on the map of the spread of terrorists extends to the regions of Central Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, and Central Africa, and these countries include huge reserves of cobalt ore, diamond and other precious metals, which makes them important stations for new concentrations of terrorism in different parts of the continent.

Ali Bakr, a researcher specializing in extremist movements at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said in a statement to the Reference that the weak security services of the ruling authorities in these regions play a role in the exacerbation of terrorist activity that threatens the wealth and economy of African countries.

He pointed out that these resources represent an important variable for terrorist groups to use in spending on their elements, and they also represent a dangerous link in the chain of competition between ISIS and al-Qaeda to extend more influence in Africa.