Responding to the 2023 EITI report’s findings on the gap between declared and exported gold from Cameroon, the government has launched comprehensive measures. These initiatives aim to rectify the shortcomings that led not to a physical loss of Cameroonian gold, but rather to a substantial deficit in fiscal and customs revenues that the state should have collected from these legally sanctioned exports.

The core issue is clear: illegal gold exports or smuggling directly translate into significant losses for the state treasury. According to current legislation, all applicable taxes and duties must be collected at the source before any gold is exported.

As part of a broader restructuring and sanitation drive spearheaded by the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (MINMIDT), the state is now initiating fiscal and customs recovery operations, both domestically and internationally. The primary objective is to reclaim outstanding sums owed to the state by various operators, which were illicitly evaded during the 2023 to 2025 financial years.

The internal recovery phase, set to commence on August 1st, will be led by a joint task force comprising representatives from SONAMINES, the Directorate General of Taxation (DGI), and the Directorate General of Customs (DGD). This team will focus on recouping lost tax revenues resulting from under-declarations and non-declarations, which led to insufficient or absent tax collection by SONAMINES from companies operating within the country. Two distinct categories of companies have been identified for these recovery efforts:

Firstly, fifty-one (51) companies engaged in the traditional physical extraction of gold, whose declarations were found to be understated. Secondly, thirty-three (33) sites, recently identified by MINMIDT, utilize modern gold extraction systems but have never declared their production or paid the requisite taxes. These targeted recovery actions are projected to generate at least three hundred (300) billion FCFA for the state in the very short term, effectively offsetting the approximately 165 billion FCFA in revenue losses highlighted in the 2023 EITI report.

The external recovery effort involves close cooperation with the Emirati Government. This collaboration aims to compile a comprehensive list of individuals and legal entities that exported gold from Cameroon between 2023 and 2026. The ultimate goal is to recover hundreds of billions of FCFA in outstanding fiscal revenues owed to the state.

Ultimately, these dual internal and external fiscal and customs recovery strategies are designed not only to compensate for past revenue shortfalls but also to establish a robust and efficient collection system for the future. This new framework for gold production control includes engaging an international expert company and implementing direct tax collection at the source by the Fiscal and Customs Administrations, working in tandem with SONAMINES. The MINMIDT communication unit emphasizes that the implementation of this comprehensive restructuring will eliminate the discrepancies previously observed, ensuring that all gold exports are conducted legally and with full payment of all state dues, regardless of the individuals or companies involved.