Ghana’s gold sector has revealed a substantial trade gap that has led to an estimated loss of $11bn (112.99bn cedis) due to smuggling activities, reported Reuters, citing a Swissaid report.
Most of the smuggled gold is believed to be flowing into the United Arab Emirates (UAE), particularly Dubai.
The report uncovered a 229 tonne (t) trade gap in Ghana’s gold exports between 2019 and 2023, amounting to $11.4bn.
This discrepancy highlights the challenges faced by the country’s artisanal gold mining sector and the impact on revenue.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, commented on the issue, stating that gold carried by hand does not need to be declared in Dubai, which contributes to the smuggling problem.
According to the report, Ghanaian gold is often smuggled to Togo before reaching Dubai, while some also passes through Burkina Faso into Mali.
A senior official at Ghana’s Minerals Commission acknowledged the findings as “a notorious fact”.
The Ghanaian Finance Ministry has yet to respond to the report.
The Swissaid report also criticised a 3% withholding tax on artisanal gold exports introduced in 2019, which led to a decline in declared exports and a rise in smuggling.
The subsequent reduction of the tax to 1.5% in 2022 and its elimination in March 2023 by the finance minister have resulted in a partial reversal of this trend and an increase in artisanal exports.
The report estimates that 34t of Ghana’s 2023 gold production went undeclared, roughly equivalent to the total recorded artisanal production for the year.
Additionally, the Ghanaian Government is aiming to double output from small-scale and artisanal mining operations, anticipating annual revenues of 139.41bn cedis from this sector.
