Responsible gold trading: Analysis of the main obstacles to and key recommendations for formal gold trade in Mali

On October 6, 2022, Pact and the Ministry of Mines organized the “Responsible Gold Trade Workshop” in Bamako to assess the main obstacles, discuss actions and agree on recommendations to promote responsible gold trade in Mali and abroad. This Responsible Gold Trading policy paper presents the key observations made during this workshop, and in extensive field research carried out by Pact. It includes a brief analysis of the current state of gold trade in Mali and an analysis of major obstacles to formal gold trade. Following this, 11 concrete recommendations are presented for promoting formal gold trade in Mali.

The policy paper was finalized in April 2023 following a three-month review process that included input from stakeholders, including various government departments, private sector stakeholders (including gold exporters and refineries) and civil society organizations in Mali. A national validation workshop, organized by Pact and the Ministry of Mines, was then organized in Bamako on March 21, 2023 for stakeholders to review and validate this policy paper and express their commitments to implementing the recommendations according to their responsibilities.

This document was authored by Pact’s Jorden de Haan, Senior Officer; Aly Diarra, Technical Gold Mining Expert in Mali; and Halimata Barry, National Project Coordinator in Mali. Its recommendations also address peace and security concerns in the Central Sahel, raised in a separate article on NewSecurityBeat.

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