Tens of billions of dollars in gold flows illegally out of Africa each year, a new report says

By JESSICA DONATI
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A new report has found that billions of dollars in gold is smuggled out of Africa each year and most of it ends up in the United Arab Emirates, where it is refined and sold to customers around the world. The report published Thursday found that more than $30 billion worth of gold, or more than 435 metric tons, was smuggled out of the continent in 2022. The report is from Swissaid, an aid and development group based in Switzerland. The main destinations for African gold were the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Switzerland. The authors of the report said their goal was to make the trade in African gold more transparent.