Small arms trafficking in the Sahel: The role of tri-border towns

This research paper examines the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the West African Sahel, focusing on Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. It identifies specific tri-border 'nodes' that facilitate trafficking and analyzes the socio-economic and security drivers, key actors, and the impact of these flows on regional stability and local economies.

• Tri-border towns, referred to as 'nodes', serve as critical hubs for arms trafficking due to porous borders and limited government presence. Six specific nodes were identified: Mallam Fatori (Nigeria), Tinzaoutine (Algeria), Tera (Niger), Murzuq (Libya), Gaya (Niger), and Porga (Benin).
• The demand for illicit firearms is driven by a combination of security crises, personal safety concerns, and systemic failures. Individuals and communities, including the Mossi in Burkina Faso and pastoralists across the region, acquire weapons for self-defence because they perceive state security as ineffective.
• Artisanal arms production is a major source of illicit weapons in the region, with gunsmiths in Ghana and Nigeria being primary sources. These locally made weapons, including reverse-engineered AK-47s and homemade rocket launchers, are often cheaper than imports and are widely used by bandits and hunters.
• State security actors contribute to the illicit market through leakages from armouries, including theft, loss, and capture during conflict. In Burkina Faso, one source claimed that 80% of weapons held by armed groups originate from government stockpiles.
• Youth and women play significant roles as couriers in the arms trade. Youth are often driven by poverty and the lure of easy profits, while some women smuggle arms for revenge or financial gain, often concealing weapons in goods like cereals or loincloths.
• The illicit arms trade negatively distorts local economies, particularly in Burkina Faso, where profits are frequently laundered through real estate, land, and livestock. This creates a financial incentive for youth to abandon legitimate employment for criminal activities.
• While regional and national legal frameworks—such as the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons—exist to prohibit illicit trafficking, their effectiveness is hindered by poor implementation, lack of state capacity, and insufficient political will.
• Environmental factors, specifically climate change, exacerbate the demand for arms by intensifying conflicts over dwindling resources, such as grazing land, between farmers and pastoralists.
• The fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 acted as a major catalyst for the proliferation of weapons in the Sahel, as national stockpiles from Libya became available to criminal networks and rebels.

APA

Alusala, N. (2023). Small arms trafficking in the Sahel: The role of tri-border towns. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/OCWAR-T-paper-6-eng.pdf

Chicago

Alusala, Nelson. Small arms trafficking in the Sahel: The role of tri-border towns. Institute for Security Studies, 2023. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/OCWAR-T-paper-6-eng.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Alusala |first1=Nelson |title=Small arms trafficking in the Sahel: The role of tri-border towns |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=June 2023 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/OCWAR-T-paper-6-eng.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{alusala2023small, author = {Alusala, Nelson}, title = {{Small arms trafficking in the Sahel: The role of tri-border towns}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/OCWAR-T-paper-6-eng.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }