The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ITIE) 2023 report highlighted a significant disparity between the volume of gold declared and the amount actually exported from Cameroon. In response, the government has launched corrective actions, not to recover lost gold, but to reclaim the substantial tax and customs revenues that were forfeited due to illegal export activities.

This situation underscores a critical equation: illicit gold exportation or smuggling directly translates into a severe loss of state revenue. By law, all applicable taxes and duties are mandated to be collected at the source before any gold leaves the country.

As part of a broader restructuring and regularization drive spearheaded by the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (MINMIDT), the state is initiating both internal and external tax and customs recovery operations. The primary goal is to retrieve outstanding amounts owed to the state by various operators who evaded these payments between 2023 and 2025.

An internal recovery campaign, set to commence on August 1st, will be led by a joint team comprising representatives from SONAMINES, the General Directorate of Taxation (DGI), and the General Directorate of Customs (DGD). This initiative aims to recuperate lost revenue from understated declarations and complete non-declarations, which resulted in either absent or insufficient tax collection by SONAMINES from companies operating within Cameroon. Two distinct categories of companies have been identified for these efforts.

The first group includes fifty-one (51) companies engaged in physical gold extraction, a traditional method, whose declarations were found to be significantly understated. The second category, recently uncovered by MINMIDT in the field, involves thirty-three (33) sites utilizing newer gold extraction technologies whose output has never been declared or subjected to tax collection. These concerted recovery efforts are projected to generate at least three hundred billion (300) billion FCFA in the short term, effectively offsetting the approximately 165 billion FCFA in revenue losses highlighted by the ITIE report in 2023.

Simultaneously, an external recovery strategy is underway, leveraging information gathered from international sources. In collaboration with the Emirati Government, authorities are compiling a comprehensive list of individuals and corporate entities that exported gold from Cameroon between 2023 and 2026. This initiative aims to recover hundreds of billions of FCFA in outstanding tax revenues.

Ultimately, these dual internal and external fiscal and customs recovery channels are designed not only to compensate for past revenue shortfalls but also to establish a robust framework for efficient future collection. A new system is being implemented to enhance control over gold production, involving the engagement of an international expert company and direct revenue collection by Tax and Customs Administrations, working in tandem with SONAMINES. The MINMIDT Communication Unit explains that this comprehensive restructuring will ensure that discrepancies are no longer observed, irrespective of the individuals or companies involved in gold export, provided all due payments to the state are made.