Rising insecurity across West Africa threatens to erode investor confidence and derail the region’s mining boom unless governments and industry players work together to address the crisis, Australia’s High Commissioner to Ghana has warned at a major security conference in Accra.
Speaking at the West Africa Mining and Security Conference held from September 30 to October 1, High Commissioner Berenice Owen-Jones said the security context in West Africa is shifting, urging a coordinated response to safeguard existing operations and attract new investment. Her remarks carried particular weight given Australia’s estimated US$20 to 30 billion worth of mining investment in West Africa alone.
“Terrorism in the Sahel, violent extremism, political instability, complex geopolitics and new emerging threats present significant challenges for the mining sector,” she told conference attendees. “The sector, with its fixed assets and high visibility, is particularly exposed.” It’s not the kind of diplomatic language that sugar coats the problem. Several mining nations in the region, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, face growing security risks that have disrupted production and raised operating costs substantially.
The deteriorating security in parts of the region threatens lives of both foreign and local workers in the resource sector, Owen-Jones noted. “It is against this backdrop that these are not challenges for the sector to confront alone. They require collaboration between states, communities, security providers and industry,” she said, emphasising that effective responses demand information sharing on the ground and strengthened networks.
Australia’s commercial engagement with West Africa is heavily underpinned by mining, with total investment in mining and resources across 35 African countries currently estimated at US$60 billion, spanning not just extraction but also agriculture, education, renewable energy and infrastructure. These companies contribute to sustainable economic growth and regional stability through job creation, skills transfer and investment in local communities, according to the High Commissioner.
But here’s the challenge: for these benefits to be fully realised, mining operations must be conducted in an environment where the impact of security and political risk is understood and, as far as possible, mitigated. Owen-Jones stressed that WAMS has grown into an important platform for dialogue on the evolving security landscape in the sub region and its implications for mining.
The Australian High Commissioner, who also has non resident accreditation to eight other West African countries including Togo and Côte d’Ivoire, noted that “security, securing mining operations, is not simply about protecting assets. It’s about safeguarding livelihoods, stability and development in the region.” That broader framing matters because it shifts the conversation from corporate interests to community wellbeing.
The two day programme brought together leading international analysts, academics, security practitioners and the mining industry to discuss the increasingly fluid security outlook and how the sector can respond. The platform also sought to share knowledge and best practices for mine security professionals, providing clearer understanding of challenges faced by the mining sector in West Africa to inform operational decisions and continuous planning.
Interior Minister Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka highlighted the importance of mining to both the country and sub region. “Mineral resources remain a central driver of our economies and a source of livelihood for millions of citizens in our country and sub region,” he said. However, he added that mining has become a frontline concern in West Africa’s security landscape owing to increasing risks posed by illegal mining activities.
“Illegal mining is one of the crimes covered by transnational organised crime. It is an environmental and natural resource crime that endangers the environment and human life,” Muntaka stated. He went further, describing illegal mining as a predicate offence for money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation of arms financing in Ghana and the sub region.
According to Ghana’s money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessment for environmental and natural resource crimes, about 64 percent of illicit and organised crime proceeds that pose a global security concern are linked to environmental and natural resource crimes, which include illegal mining. “These crimes undermine governance, promote corruption, threaten national stability, regional peace and development and drive irreversible climate change,” he said.
The statistics are sobering. When nearly two thirds of organised crime proceeds globally connect to environmental crimes including illegal mining, you’re looking at a problem that transcends individual countries or even regions. It’s a transnational challenge that requires transnational solutions, which is precisely why conferences like WAMS matter for bringing together diverse stakeholders.
In view of this, the Interior Minister said Ghana’s government has empowered state institutions, including security services, to clamp down on illegal mining. He highlighted the country’s strict mining regime which promotes responsible mining practices, while acknowledging the damage caused by unregulated small scale operations now being met with enforcement actions, including joint operations by the police and military.
Australian Ambassador for Counter Terrorism Gemma Huggins also acknowledged that terrorism and violent extremism remain among the region’s greatest challenges. “Australia remains deeply concerned by the destabilising impact it has on regional security and development. It impedes sustainable development and erodes human rights. It undermines economic growth, food security and social cohesion, and it exacerbates displacement,” she said.
What emerges from these interventions is a recognition that West Africa’s mining sector sits at the intersection of multiple security threats. There’s the traditional concern about protecting high value, fixed assets from theft or sabotage. But there’s also the newer reality of violent extremism spreading southward from the Sahel, the persistent challenge of illegal mining operations that fund criminal networks, and the broader governance issues that allow these problems to fester.
The conference’s timing reflects growing anxiety within the mining industry about whether West Africa’s enormous mineral wealth can be extracted sustainably amid deteriorating security conditions. The region holds substantial deposits of gold, lithium, manganese and other critical minerals increasingly important for global energy transition. But if companies can’t operate safely, or if illegal mining continues to undermine legitimate operations, that potential wealth remains theoretical rather than practical.
For Ghana specifically, which has positioned itself as a relatively stable democracy in an increasingly unstable region, the mining security question carries particular significance. The country wants to attract more investment while simultaneously cracking down on illegal mining that has devastated rivers and forests. It’s a delicate balance between being welcoming to legitimate operators and being tough on illegal activities, all while managing community expectations about economic benefits from mining.
Owen-Jones’s emphasis on collaboration rather than individual corporate responses suggests recognition that security challenges in West African mining exceed what any single company or even country can address alone. When terrorism in the Sahel affects investor confidence across the entire region, when illegal mining operations span borders, when arms trafficking uses mineral proceeds as currency, the solutions have to be equally coordinated.
The question is whether governments, industry players, and international partners can move beyond conference declarations to implement the kind of sustained, coordinated security frameworks that mining operations need to thrive. Previous conferences have identified similar challenges, yet insecurity continues to escalate in parts of the region. That pattern suggests good analysis alone isn’t sufficient without accompanying political will and resource allocation to address identified problems systematically.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
