Ivory Coast minister calls for stricter trade rules to tackle gold smuggling
The Ivory Coast has called for stricter regulations on West African gold exports, similar to the diamond industry’s Kimberley Process, to combat the illegal trade of the yellow metal.
West Africa is the largest contributor to Africa’s gold production, with mining of the metal surging in recent years to eclipse Southern Africa’s traditional producers.
However, a large chunk of the revenue of West African nations is lost to illicit trade every year, with gold from illegal mines being smuggled to major consumer markets in the Middle East and Asia.
For Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, developing the mining sector is crucial to efforts to diversify its economy, which is heavily reliant on agriculture.
“With the Kimberley agreement, any country can buy diamonds, [and] we will ensure that the value chain is clean,” Mines and Energy Minister Mamadou Coulibaly told The National in an interview recently.
“So, if we can have this transparency with countries that are buying gold coming from West Africa, I think [gold smuggling] will be over within a matter of a month.
“But, at the end of the day, we need to talk to those who are the final consumers of the gold.”
