XALIMANEWS- More than 435 tons of gold, equivalent to a financial value of $30.7 billion, were smuggled from Africa in 2022, according to the APS, which cites a report published Thursday by the Swiss NGO Swissair.
More than 435 tonnes of gold were smuggled from the African continent in 2022, which represents more than one tonne per day. At the price of gold on May 1, 2024, this corresponds to a value of 30.7 billion US dollars (18,547,435,700,000.00 CFA Franc), we can read in this study entitled: “On the trail of African gold. Quantifying production and trade to combat illicit flows“.
According to its authors, with almost 80% of African gold imported abroad, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Switzerland and India are the main destinations for the continent’s precious metal production, estimated between 991 tonnes and 1,144 tonnes in 2022, or a quarter and a third of global mining gold production.
“Between 2012 and 2022, they add, 2,569 tonnes of African gold imported into the UAE were not declared for export to African countries. At the average price of gold over these eleven years, this corresponds to a total value of 115.3 billion USD», reports the Aps.
The study further reveals that twelve African countries are involved in smuggling, the largest of which concerns Mali, Ghana and Zimbabwe. “Gold smuggling in Africa more than doubled between 2012 and 2022“, she indicates, adding that this fraud is due to a “lack of state control (which) reflects other problems: corruption, financing of armed conflicts or violation of human rights“.
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