Cameroon will shut down non-compliant artisanal and small-scale gold mining sites from January 2026 as part of a renewed push to curb large-scale smuggling, particularly to the United Arab Emirates, the government said.
Mines Minister Fuh Calistus Gentry announced the measures on Monday, saying closures would target artisanal sites that do not operate closed-loop ore processing systems a requirement authorities say is critical to tracking production and limiting illicit flows.
The decision follows a report by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) that exposed vast discrepancies between Cameroon’s official gold exports and volumes recorded as imports by foreign countries. The report found a gap of about 15 tonnes of gold, with most of the metal traced to the UAE.
“The objective is to regain control over gold production and marketing,” Gentry said, adding that the current system allows most output to escape official oversight. Artisanal mining dominates Cameroon’s gold sector, leaving the state with little visibility over volumes extracted or exported.
According to the EITI, Cameroon officially exported just 22.3 kilograms of gold in 2023. Yet international trade data show that 15.2 tonnes of gold were imported that year by countries declaring Cameroon as the source. More than 90 percent of those shipments were destined for the UAE, notably Dubai, which has become one of the world’s largest gold trading hubs.
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The UAE has long faced scrutiny from civil society groups and international watchdogs over its role in handling gold from opaque or conflict-affected supply chains. Swiss NGO SWISSAID estimates that the UAE imported 748 tonnes of African gold in 2024, much of it from artisanal mining operations with limited traceability.
Cameroon’s government says it intends to tighten oversight by strengthening the role of the state-owned mining company SONAMINES, which is mandated to purchase domestically produced gold. Officials argue that centralising purchases through SONAMINES will reduce smuggling and improve revenue collection.
“With no industrial gold mines currently operating, nearly all gold produced in Cameroon comes from artisanal and small-scale mining,” Gentry said. “This activity often operates without feasibility studies, making it impossible for the state to forecast production or monitor exports effectively.”
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Authorities also point to Cameroon’s long and porous land borders as a major challenge. Officials say gold mined in neighbouring countries is frequently smuggled into Cameroon and exported via informal networks, sometimes declared as Cameroonian in origin before being shipped abroad, mainly to the Gulf.
The planned closures form part of a broader strategy to shift the sector away from informal production toward industrial mining, which officials say would be easier to regulate and tax. The government has repeatedly stated its ambition to attract large-scale mining investment, though progress has been slow amid regulatory uncertainty and security concerns in parts of the country.
Analysts say the scale of the discrepancies highlighted by the EITI underscores the depth of the challenge. Gold is easy to conceal, transport and trade, making it particularly vulnerable to illicit flows in countries with weak oversight and limited enforcement capacity.
Cameroon is not alone in grappling with the problem. Across West and Central Africa, governments are stepping up efforts to formalise artisanal mining, improve traceability and channel production through state agencies.
Some countries have reported early gains. In Burkina Faso, the National Precious Substances Company (SONASP) purchased 29.56 tonnes of artisanal gold in the first nine months of 2025, up sharply from 5.57 tonnes over the same period in 2024, according to official data. Authorities there credit tighter controls and incentives for miners to sell through official channels.
Whether Cameroon can replicate such progress remains uncertain. Industry observers note that enforcement will be key, particularly in remote mining areas where state presence is limited and livelihoods depend heavily on artisanal activity.
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The government said the impact of the new measures would be assessed in the months following their implementation. For now, the crackdown signals Yaoundé’s intent to confront a trade that has long deprived the state of revenues — and placed Cameroon at the centre of a much wider debate over illicit gold flows from Africa to global markets.
