Cameroon’s government announced Wednesday it was cracking down on its gold mining sector over discrepancies between the volumes produced and declared by companies, potentially costing billions in lost tax revenue.
Cameroonian authorities estimate that the illegal export of gold to the United Arab Emirates has deprived the state of around 2,000 billion CFA francs (about $3.5 billion) over the past five years.
“The main problem does not necessarily lie in the disappearance of gold belonging to the state, but in the under-reporting of part of the production by certain private operators,” acting mining minister Fuh Calistus Gentry told journalists.
Cameroon’s mining sector has faced recurring criticism over the low revenues generated from gold extraction.
The government plans to step up controls at mining sites, introduce minimum gold delivery thresholds, improve monitoring of the various stages of ore recovery, and strengthen production traceability.
Fuh said there were also plans to clean up issues of licensing, noting more than 200 companies are known to be carrying out mining activities without authorisation, and 137 cases have already been referred to the competent courts.
The government also plans to crack down on the improper use of exploration permits for mining operations.
“An exploration permit is intended for conducting exploration works aimed at identifying and assessing a deposit,” he said.
The central African nation is banking on the exploitation of its mineral resources, such as iron, diamonds, gold, and cobalt, to develop its economy, having adopted a new mining code in 2023.
AFP
