Ugandan Allied Democratic Front (ADF) Rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo are harvesting enormous amount of money from illicit gold business.
A report released on Tuesday says the islamist ADF Rebel group generates between U$1 million and U$1.6 million annually through the illegal mining and trafficking of gold in the Manguredjipa goldfields of Lubero territory, North Kivu.
The Sentry, an American organisation conducted the investigation in the ADF activities and published it’s report October 27th.
“Illicit gold is now the main source of funding for the Islamic State-affiliated terrorist group in the DRC,” says Sasha Lezhnev, senior advisor at The Sentry.
When Washington imposed sanctions on facilitators of the ADF, the rebels turned to locally generated resources since the end of 2024.
This development marks a change in the group’s funding model. Previously more dependent on financial support from the Islamic State.
“The ADF has adapted to military pressure and sanctions by finding new ways to finance its operations, including through gold and the trafficking of other resources,” said Justyna Gudzowska, executive director of The Sentry.
The rebels are also engaged in Cocoa production, extortion, and kidnappings. The latter also allow it to acquire labor and recruit new members.
The Sentry estimates that in February 2026, the ADF still had between 600 and 700 operational fighters, in addition to approximately 2,000 dependents.
However, despite military operations conducted by Congolese and Ugandan forces, the group has not been dismantled.
