mining

ADF STAFF On a street in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, a poster appeared earlier this year with a succinct message accusing the ruling military junta of betrayal. It read: “Russia supported the coup so it could steal our gold.” There are…

ADF STAFF There’s a fantastic amount of gold to be found in the Sahel. In addition to the region’s large-scale industrial mines, there are small artisanal mines — hundreds of them in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — with people,…

ADF STAFF Sudanese miners are blaming Russia’s infamous Wagner Group mercenaries for massacres along the porous border between South Darfur state and the Central African Republic (CAR). Witnesses say the Wagner Group,  with close ties to…

ADF STAFF Cameroonian citizens are pushing back against what they say are false promises of an economic windfall coming from Chinese investors. Several hundred people in the small coastal town of Lolabé protested on May 23 a recently…

ADF STAFF The smartphone video showing a Chinese mining manager whipping two Rwandan employees about their heads with a piece of rope as they sat with their hands tied behind their backs went viral in August 2021. The video became a…

ADF STAFF The military junta ruling Guinea has given Chinese and other international mining companies until the end of May to produce plans for higher pay and improved conditions or face penalties. The request calls for expanding…

ADF STAFF Violent clashes between Russian mercenaries and civilians near gold mines in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been commonplace for years. Following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s thirst for African gold appears…

ADF STAFF When Thomas Thabane, then Lesotho’s prime minister, broke ground on a prominent Chinese-funded road construction project in 2018, he declared that his government’s goal was to develop the country and free the Basotho people…