The 2023 ITIE report brought to light a significant disparity between the quantities of gold officially declared and those actually exported from Cameroon. In response, the Government has initiated concrete steps to rectify the systemic failures that led to this situation. Crucially, the issue is not the physical loss of Cameroon’s gold, but rather the substantial shortfall in fiscal and customs revenues that the state should have collected from these exports had they been conducted through legal channels.

This highlights a clear equation: illegal gold exports, or smuggling, directly translate into lost state revenues. According to existing legislation, these vital taxes and duties are mandated to be collected at the source before any gold leaves the country.

As part of comprehensive restructuring and sanitization efforts spearheaded by the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (MINMIDT), the state is launching targeted fiscal and customs recovery operations. These initiatives will operate both domestically and internationally, with the explicit goal of recouping outstanding sums owed to the state by various operators who evaded payments between 2023 and 2025.

The internal recovery drive is set to commence on August 1st, led by a joint team comprising representatives from SONAMINES, the General Directorate of Taxation (DGI), and the General Directorate of Customs (DGD). This operation aims to recover the financial shortfalls resulting from understated declarations and complete non-declarations, which led to either insufficient or entirely absent tax collection by SONAMINES from companies operating within Cameroon. Two distinct categories of companies have been identified for this purpose.

The first group includes fifty-one (51) companies engaged in physical gold extraction, a method traditionally employed in the field, whose declarations were found to be significantly understated. The second category, recently uncovered by MINMIDT through on-site investigations, involves thirty-three (33) sites utilizing newer gold extraction systems, whose production had never been declared, and consequently, no taxes had ever been collected. These concerted recovery efforts are projected to enable the state to recuperate at least three hundred (300) billion FCFA in the very short term, effectively offsetting the approximately 165 billion FCFA in revenue losses highlighted by the 2023 ITIE report.

Furthermore, an external recovery initiative will leverage information gathered from abroad. In collaboration with the Emirati Government, Cameroon aims to compile a comprehensive list of individuals and corporate entities that exported gold from Cameroon between 2023 and 2026. This international cooperation seeks to recover hundreds of billions of FCFA in outstanding fiscal revenues.

Ultimately, these twin internal and external fiscal and customs recovery strategies will not only allow the state to compensate for past revenue shortfalls but also establish a foundation for more efficient future collection. This will be achieved through a revamped system for controlling gold production, which includes engaging an international expert company and implementing direct, at-source collection by the Fiscal and Customs Administrations, working in tandem with SONAMINES. The MINMIDT communication unit explains that this comprehensive restructuring is designed to eliminate the discrepancies previously observed, ensuring that all gold exports are transparent and fully taxed, regardless of the individuals or companies involved.