The government’s immediate focus is not on the physical loss of Cameroon’s gold, but rather on the substantial fiscal and customs revenue that the state has forfeited due to illicit gold exports.

The core issue revolves around the illegal nature of these exports, which bypass legal channels for taxation and duties. Simply put, undeclared or smuggled gold directly translates into significant revenue losses for the state, as applicable taxes and levies are legally mandated for collection at the source prior to any exportation.

In response to these findings, the government, through the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (MINMIDT), has initiated a series of restructuring and regularization measures. These efforts include launching both internal and external fiscal and customs recovery operations. The primary objective is to reclaim outstanding sums owed to the state by various operators for the period spanning 2023 to 2025.

The internal recovery initiative, set to commence on August 1st, will be spearheaded by a collaborative team comprising representatives from SONAMINES, the Directorate General of Taxation (DGI), and the Directorate General of Customs (DGD). This operation specifically targets the recovery of lost tax and duty revenues resulting from under-declarations or complete failures to declare gold production. Such practices have led to insufficient or non-existent 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 historically common in the field, whose declarations were found to be significantly understated. The second category, recently uncovered by MINMIDT, consists of thirty-three (33) sites employing newer gold extraction technologies where production has never been declared, resulting in a complete absence of tax collection. These concerted recovery efforts are projected to generate at least 300 billion FCFA in the short term, effectively offsetting the approximately 165 billion FCFA in revenue losses reported by the ITIE in 2023.

Concurrently, an external recovery initiative is underway, leveraging information gathered internationally. This involves collaborating with the Emirati Government to compile a comprehensive list of individuals and legal entities that exported gold from Cameroon between 2023 and 2026. The aim is to recover hundreds of billions of FCFA in outstanding fiscal revenue from these operations.

Ultimately, these dual fiscal and customs recovery strategies—both internal and external—are designed not only to recoup past revenue shortfalls but also to establish a robust and efficient collection system for the future. This new framework for controlling gold production involves 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 this comprehensive restructuring will eliminate the previously observed discrepancies, ensuring that all gold exports are properly taxed and accounted for, regardless of the individuals or companies involved.