In Cameroon, gold is not benefiting the country as it should. The latest EITI report reveals significant ambiguity surrounding gold production, with a huge gap between official exports (22.3 kg in 2023) and the volumes declared by importing countries (15 tons, 90% of which went to the United Arab Emirates). This lack of transparency fuels suspicions of massive smuggling, tax evasion (estimated at 165 billion FCFA), and a mining sector largely operating outside state control.
A Statistical Discrepancy That Raises Questions
The EITI Cameroon 2023 report, published at the end of 2025, highlights a glaring inconsistency: while Cameroonian customs recorded only 22.3 kg of exported gold (worth 904 million FCFA), international statistics indicate that 15.2 tonnes of gold were imported from Cameroon, primarily by the United Arab Emirates (13.7 tonnes), Italy, and the United States.
- According to the EITI, approximately 1 tonne of gold from artisanal mining and 30 kg of industrial gold are not included in any formal export flows.
- This “abysmal discrepancy” reflects the predominance of informal trade and a lack of effective traceability, even for formal production.
A sector dominated by semi-mechanized artisanal mining
Cameroon has no active industrial gold mines; production relies almost entirely on artisanal and semi-mechanized mining (ASM), primarily in the East and Adamawa regions. These sites, often acquired by Chinese companies, operate without prior feasibility studies or systematic authorization, creating statistical and fiscal ambiguity.
A government mission in October 2025 revealed that 94 of the 101 sites visited were operating illegally, without a validated preliminary study or compliance with the Mining Code. Sonamines (National Mining Company), created in 2020 to purchase and process local production, collected 29.56 tonnes in the first nine months of 2025 (compared to 5.57 tonnes in 2024), but is still struggling to capture all available resources.
Smuggling, Tax Losses, and “Geostealing”
The opacity of the sector fosters smuggling, fueled by parallel networks, unauthorized trading posts, and porous borders that allow neighboring gold to be labeled as originating from Cameroon. The EITI estimates potential tax losses at 165 billion FCFA, a crucial shortfall for a country that classifies gold as a strategic sector.
- Mines Minister Fuh Calistus Gentry refers to “geostealing”: gold from neighboring countries exported under the Cameroonian flag, particularly to the United Arab Emirates, a global hub for untraceable gold.
- The porous borders and lack of traceability facilitate evasion, depriving the state of tax revenue and control over its resources.
Reactions and Announced Measures
Faced with this scandal, the Cameroonian government announced drastic measures starting in January 2026: closure of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sites without a “closed-system processing facility,” strengthening of border controls, and expanding the role of Sonamines to purchase national production and build up strategic gold reserves.
- The Minister of Mines is proposing a specific study on artisanal gold mining and a Customs-Sonamines mechanism to track formal production.
- In his address at the end of 2025, Paul Biya emphasized the importance of controlling marketing channels to increase development resources.
Towards the industrialization of Cameroonian gold?
These measures aim to formalize the sector and promote industrial mining, whose flows are more controllable and predictable. Sonamines plans a digital platform to track transactions and a monitoring policy on international markets to negotiate the best prices.
- Without industrialization and enhanced traceability, Cameroon risks continuing to export “raw value” without capturing the economic and fiscal benefits.
- The challenge is twofold: to stem the financial drain and to transform gold into a driver of development, in a context where the precious metal is increasingly important in global reserves.
