A crucial working session was held this Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce.
An important working session, focusing on the restructuring of Cameroon’s gold sector and strengthening gold traceability, took place this Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at the Ministry of Commerce conference room.
The proceedings were chaired by the Minister of Mines, Industry, and Technological Development (ad interim), Professor Fuh Calistus Gentry. Several senior administrative officials were in attendance, including the Director General of Customs, the Director General of Taxes, the Director General of the Treasury, the Director General of SONAMINES, the Permanent Secretary of SNPPK, and other key representatives from MINMIDT.
Judicial and Economic Offensive
Central to the discussions were strategies to enhance gold traceability, reorganize the gold value chain, and improve inter-administrative coordination within the sector. Participants highlighted that this concerted effort paves the way for stronger collaboration among institutions, aiming to boost fiscal revenue collection, dismantle informal gold trafficking networks, and ultimately increase state earnings from gold exploitation.
This meeting underscores the Cameroonian authorities’ escalating commitment to better regulate mineral resource exploitation and ensure more transparent governance within the gold sector. It follows a significant government-led judicial and economic offensive launched to sanitize its gold industry, which has been plagued by widespread plundering of its valuable gold resources.
Staggering Financial Losses
The government’s robust response is a direct consequence of alarming findings from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ITIE). These revelations exposed a colossal discrepancy: while Cameroon’s customs recorded only 22 kilograms of gold exports, over 15 tonnes of gold originating from Cameroon were declared upon arrival in the United Arab Emirates. This extensive gold smuggling operation represents an estimated loss exceeding 2,000 billion FCFA over a five-year period, with a direct fiscal shortfall of 165 billion FCFA.
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