Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Florquin, Nicolas, Sigrid Lipott and Francis Wairagu. 2019 ‘Excerpts on Illicit/Craft Production - Ghana.’ Weapons Compass: Mapping Illicit Small Arms Flows in Africa, pp. 47-59. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. 1 January
Relevant contents
Overall, craft production stands out as the second most prominent source of illicit weapons for the countries that replied to the country questionnaire, although quite far behind illicit cross-border transfers by land. Seven countries reported the presence of such production on their territory (Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania), while five reported seizing or recovering such weapons since 2011 (Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Liberia). (p. 55, p. 88)
Map 5: Reported craft production of small arms – Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe. (p. 56)
The proliferation of readily convertible imitation firearms was initially particularly significant in Northern Africa, and notably in Libya, where both merchants and end users, including armed groups, are converting them. Major shipments of readily convertible alarm weapons were intercepted from Turkey in or on their way to Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. This included the previously mentioned seizure of no less than 25,000 Turkish alarm pistols in 2017 at the Port of Kismayo, Somalia. From these locations they appear to have been smuggled by land and seized in converted form in a range of neighbouring countries, including in Kenya, Niger, and Somalia. Other Small Arms Survey inquiries have revealed the circulation of imitation handguns in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritania, and Zimbabwe. (pp. 58-59)