Cameroon’s mines ministry announced on Wednesday that authorities had discovered nearly 200 illicit artisanal gold mining firms in the country’s central and eastern regions. The majority of these enterprises are owned by foreign entities.
Following the discovery of a significant disparity between Cameroon’s official gold exports and the far higher import statistics provided by other nations, mainly the United Arab Emirates, an investigation into the gold sector was initiated in January.
According to a government statement, “approximately 200 illegal companies have been identified in the east and Adamawa regions, with more than 95 percent of them being foreign multinational corporations.”
According to a list that was made public by the ministry, a significant number of the businesses are managed by Chinese nationals. The government has issued a request to the companies, requesting that they “immediately cease mining activities.” However, they did not specify any potential consequences or legal action.
There were significant inconsistencies in the official data, according to a report that was issued by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in December of 2023. 953 kilograms of gold were reported to have been produced in Cameroon during that year, with just 22.3 kilos being officially exported.
However, countries that import goods reported receiving 15.2 tons (15,200 kg), which is about 680 times increased. Aicha Pemboura, a researcher, stated in a March paper on organized crime in Central Africa that “this suggests a large share of gold, especially artisanal mining, bypasses official channels and is diverted into informal networks or smuggled.
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