An Islamic State-aligned insurgency in eastern Congo generates most of its revenue from gold production and smuggling, allowing it to finance its own operations, a report by The Sentry said on Tuesday, Reuters reported from Dakar. The Sentry is a US-based investigative organisation that tracks violent conflict and illicit financial networks. All revenue figures in this story are The Sentry's estimates as reported by Reuters, not independently verified figures.
The Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, which has killed thousands of people in attacks on civilians and security forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo over the last decade, generates between $1 million and $1.6 million a year (yaani about 10 lakh to 16 lakh US dollars a year) from gold mining sites in one area of North Kivu province alone, according to the report. The gold is trafficked through trading hubs in eastern Congo and onwards to refiners and export networks in neighbouring Uganda, The Sentry said.
Less reliant on Islamic State money, the report says
Revenue from gold has allowed the group to rely less on financial support from Islamic State since late 2024, when US sanctions targeted key facilitators in its networks, according to The Sentry. Fighters also generate money from cocoa production, extortion and kidnapping, the report said. Uganda has deployed thousands of troops to Congo to help local forces fight the ADF, but the group has proved resilient, embedding itself deeply in local economic networks, Reuters reported.
"The ADF has adapted to military pressure and sanctions by finding new ways to fund its operations, particularly through gold and other resource trafficking," said Justyna Gudzowska, executive director of The Sentry, calling for governments to disrupt the ADF's sources of funding. "That means going after the financiers, gold traders, and facilitators," she said. Spokespersons for Uganda's army, Uganda's government and Congo's government did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.