Swissaid, a development NGO, has released a report asserting that the UAE is enriched with African gold worth billions of dollars smuggled out of the continent. The report unveils that much of this gold is destined for Dubai before being legally re-exported to other nations.
According to the NGO’s report, “321-474 tonnes of African gold produced through artisanal and small-scale mining goes undeclared each year, amounting to a value of between $24-$35 billion.” The report also notes that the rate of gold smuggling has surged, more than doubling between 2012 and 2022.
Africa is the primary source of the world’s gold, with Ghana, South Africa, Mali, and Burkina Faso leading production in 2022. Gold serves as a livelihood for miners, a revenue stream for governments, a means of financing armed groups, and an underlying factor in severe human rights violations and environmental degradation.
Dubai has been singled out as an international hub for the trade in African gold, which is subsequently transported to Switzerland and India.
The NGO estimates that in 2022, “66.5% (405 tonnes) of the gold imported into the UAE from Africa was smuggled out of African countries.” It arrives in Dubai via air, “in hand luggage or in the hold, on scheduled flights or in private jets.”
Reportedly, the UAE hosts gold refineries and other traders dealing in precious metals and gemstones. The NGO clarifies that Swiss law does not permit tracing the gold back to Africa, as the last place where the gold is processed is declared as its place of origin.