Cameroon Exposes Over 200 Illegal Gold Mines Dominated by Foreign Operators
Cameroon has uncovered more than 200 illegal artisanal gold mining companies operating across its territory, with more than 95 percent of them owned by foreign nationals, the country’s mines ministry revealed this week. The discovery exposes a vast shadow economy that has drained the nation of gold revenues for years and raises serious questions about enforcement of Cameroon’s own mining regulations.
The investigation was launched after alarming discrepancies emerged between Cameroon’s official gold export figures and the far higher import totals reported by other countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates. The scale of the divergence has shocked even seasoned observers of the extractive industries sector.
A Gap of 15 Tonnes
According to official data from Cameroon’s Ministry of Mines, the country reported producing just 953 kilograms of gold in 2023. Official exports that year amounted to a mere 22.3 kilograms. Yet importing countries told a dramatically different story — they received nearly 15,200 kilograms, roughly 680 times the officially exported amount.
“This suggests a large share of gold, especially artisanal mining, bypasses official channels and is diverted into informal networks or smuggled,” said researcher Aicha Pemboura in a March report on organised crime in central Africa. Her research, published by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, documented how gold from Cameroon and neighbouring countries flows through opaque supply chains that benefit foreign intermediaries more than local communities.
The UAE has been identified as a major destination for gold smuggled out of Africa, with Dubai serving as a regional hub where gold can be processed, refined, and re-exported without the originating country ever recording the transaction.
Chinese Operators Dominate the Illegal Sites
The ministry’s investigation identified approximately 200 illegal companies concentrated in the eastern and Adamawa regions of Cameroon. A detailed list published by the authorities revealed that many of these operations are run by Chinese nationals. Other foreign nationals involved include operators from nearby ECOWAS countries and beyond.
Authorities have called on the firms to “immediately halt mining activities” but did not specify what sanctions or legal actions would follow. Observers note that previous crackdowns have had limited impact, with operators frequently re-establishing operations under different corporate names or simply moving to adjacent areas.
Why Enforcement Has Struggled
Cameroon adopted a new mining code in 2023 with the stated goal of improving governance of its mineral resources. Yet analysts say corruption, the influence of powerful elites, and limited state capacity in remote areas continue to undermine enforcement. The east and Adamawa regions, where most illegal operations are concentrated, are among the most sparsely governed parts of the country.
Pemboura’s research found that networks behind illegal gold mining often have political connections at both local and national levels, creating a powerful structural barrier to enforcement.
Impact on Local Communities
Beyond the revenue losses to the state, artisanal gold mining supports hundreds of thousands of livelihoods across Cameroon. Illegal large-scale operations by foreign companies often displace local miners, degrade water sources, and leave environmental damage that goes uncompensated.
A Wake-Up Call for the Region
Cameroon’s discovery joins a growing list of cases across central and west Africa where massive discrepancies between official and recorded gold exports point to systematic smuggling. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has flagged the issue repeatedly, but enforcement remains patchy.
For Yaounde, the challenge now is turning disclosure into action. Simply naming and shaming foreign operators, without meaningful enforcement against both the companies and their local enablers, risks being seen as a public relations exercise rather than a genuine regulatory response.