LAGOS: Gold worth billions of dollars is smuggled out of Africa each year to other countries, a Swiss NGO said on Thursday.
NGO Swissaid in a report said that 321-474 tonnes of African gold goes undeclared each year.
Africa is the world’s main producer of the expensive metal with Ghana, South Africa, Mali and Burkina Faso leading production in 2022.
According to the NGO, smuggling of African gold is on the rise, having doubled between 2012 and 2022.
The NGO said the gold was a source of income for millions of miners, the main source of revenue for many governments, a way of financing armed groups, and the reason for many serious human rights violations and environmental degradation.
The report named Dubai as an international hub for trade in African gold, which then exported to other countries in the world including Switzerland.
According to the NGO estimates in 2022, 66.5 percent of the gold imported into the UAE was smuggled out of African nations.
It comes in Dubai by plane, in hand luggage or on scheduled flights or in private jets. Dubai is home to thousands of precious metal and gemstone traders and gold refineries.
From the Emeriti city, African gold is sent mainly to Switzerland, its second-largest importer and India also.
The NGO explained according to the Swiss law, the last place where the gold is processed is its place of origin so that gold arriving in Switzerland is not traced back to African continent.
The report covers the time from 2012 to 2022 and is based on data collected from 54 African states with official export and import data.
