Transnational organized crime in the Sahel represents a major obstacle to peace and security, human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a new UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, Impact of Transnational Organized Crime on Stability and Development in the Sahel.
“So far, stabilization efforts in the Sahel have predominantly focused on security and terrorism, largely underestimating the role that transnational organized crime plays in driving the current situation in this fragile region,” said Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC Regional Representative for West and Central Africa.
The Report explores how organized crime fuels tensions, violence and competition over illicit profits and territorial control. Income drawn from illicit markets such as drugs, trafficked gold and fuel is reinvested in weapons and vehicles, sustaining the capacity of armed groups to mount deadly attacks. Ongoing conflicts around key strategic trafficking spots in northern Mali, Niger or Chad illustrate how organized crime may delay conflict resolution.
Trafficking, in all its forms, can bolster the legitimacy of armed groups involved in transnational organized crime by redistributing criminal proceeds in areas where economic opportunities are limited.
Yet, in the long term, these criminal activities undermine the ability of the state to uphold the rule of law and generate sustainable investment and skills development. These illicit economic opportunities also carry risks of human right abuses. For instance, at informal Sahelian artisanal and small-scale gold mining sites, criminal groups may use child labour, expose workers to exploitative conditions, or lock them into poverty through prefinancing agreements.
Transnational organized crime hampers achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, notes the report, with crimes such as trafficking in medical products hindering access to health care; sexual violence and exploitation of smuggled migrants slowing gender equality; and cyanide and mercury used at illegal gold mining sites contaminating water and land.
The Report further shows how organized crime fuels corruption, erodes trust in state institutions and undermines state legitimacy. Criminal groups operating across the Sahel appear to have used the income generated by illicit economic activities to attempt to infiltrate state structures. For example, bribes paid to law enforcement officials at the Burkina Faso-Benin border to facilitate fuel trafficking range from 350,000 to 700,000 CFA francs per truck (between $553–$1,106 USD), exceeding many officials’ monthly salaries.
Organized crime, such as the smuggling of gold and fuel, directly reduces state tax revenue that could be otherwise used to fund welfare systems and drive economic development, the report notes. In Burkina Faso, for example, a parliamentary commission estimated that gold trafficking fraud amounted to a fiscal loss of over $490 million per year, which represents more than the budget spending allocated to the Burkinabé public health sector in 2023 (about $479 million).
The report calls for a fundamental shift in how policymakers conceptualize and plan their stabilization and sustainable development strategies in the Sahel. It advocates for evidence-based and integrated approaches to organized crime and offering alternative livelihood opportunities to impoverished communities dependent on trafficking activities.
“This UNODC report shows why the international community urgently needs to step up comprehensive assistance to address organized crime, tackle high levels of instability and violence and support the people of the Sahel on a more peaceful and prosperous path,” stated Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel.
Read the full report here.
Helene Moussou, Executive Assistant
helene.moussou[at]un.org
