Smuggled Gold Exports Led to Huge Tax Revenue Loss in DRC

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has reportedly lost $1.9 million in tax revenues on account of gold being illegally exported out of the country, instead of being shipped through official route.

The latest report published by the United Nations Group of Experts suggests that nearly 1.1 tonnes of gold mined in the country during the previous year were illegally exported through borders, which ultimately ended up in funding militants and criminal gangs. The statistics released by the country’s Mines Ministry indicates that the country exported only around 39.4 kilograms out of the total production of 333.4 kilograms of artisanal gold during the entire year 2019.

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The case is more or less the same with many other countries in the African region. The artisanal gold mining accounts for almost 15 to 22 tonnes of annual gold production in Congo. Much of these are smuggled to neighbouring countries. This is evident from the fact that many of Congo’s neighbours, including Uganda export more gold than what they produce officially. This has resulted in losses of millions of dollars in tax revenue for all these poor nations.

The illegal war and terrorist groups in the region continue to benefit from illegal gold trade, the UN report noted.