Illegal gold mining: Who profits from Africa’s gold smuggling? [Business Africa] - Africanews

AI desk brief

Illegal gold mining and smuggling are diverting large volumes of African output away from official channels, with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime estimating 405 tonnes shipped from Africa to the UAE in 2022, or 66.5% of those exports, may have been smuggled. In Cameroon, Dubai reportedly received 44 tonnes of gold between 2021 and 2025 versus just 148 kilograms of officially declared exports, underscoring the scale of leakage from formal trade.

The report also highlights supply-chain tightening efforts in West Africa: Côte d’Ivoire has lifted official production from 13 tonnes in 2012 to 51 tonnes in 2023 while stepping up enforcement and creating the Ivorian Precious Metals Company to oversee trade. Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery and introduced a new mining code and state trading/oversight entities, signaling a push to capture more value domestically and formalize flows.