Africa-Press. Civil society organizations in Cameroon have deemed the measures announced by the government to cleanse the gold sector as insufficient to address the crisis of illegal trade in the precious metal. This comes more than seven months after a significant gap was revealed between the quantities of gold that authorities claimed to have exported and those confirmed by international buyers, primarily from the United Arab Emirates, as imported.
The Ministry of Mines, following directives from the presidency, launched an official campaign to purify the sector, which included field visits, regulatory measures, and penalties against violators, alongside a media campaign led by the Minister of Mines and Industry and Technological Development, aimed at enhancing oversight of mining activities.
In May, the ministry published a list of around 200 illegal companies, demanding compliance with environmental and financial standards and production requirements before allowing them to resume activities in the East and Adamawa regions.
Additionally, authorities announced at the end of June the cancellation of 74 gold exploration licenses due to violations of mining law, a step they claimed aimed at regulating the sector and reducing violations.
Despite these measures, civil society organizations argue that the issue goes beyond merely canceling licenses, questioning how newly established companies or institutions not involved in mining at all obtained licenses for exploration, despite mining law requiring the possession of necessary technical and financial capabilities. They added that most of these companies are not genuine mining firms but are suspected of being fronts used to obtain licenses.
For its part, the coalition “Publish What You Pay – Cameroon” has called for the publication of a list of the actual beneficiaries of all mining licenses, in line with the standards of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, emphasizing that concealing the identities of beneficiaries makes it difficult to track financial returns and ensure they are not used to fund illegal activities or political entities.
The coalition also urged the government to release the report from the joint committee tasked with investigating illegal gold trafficking, which was formed in February at the direction of President Paul Biya, asserting that disclosing the investigation results is a crucial step toward enhancing transparency and holding those involved accountable.
