By HAN News Desk
DUBAI — A growing body of international research indicates that Dubai has emerged as the world’s largest trading hub for smuggled or illicitly exported African gold — a trend that is costing African nations tens of billions of dollars and providing a steady financial lifeline to armed groups across the continent.
A detailed report published by Reuters revealed that hundreds of tonnes of gold leave Africa every year without being officially recorded by local customs authorities, only to reappear in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as legally documented imports. According to the investigation, the UAE received nearly 446 tonnes of gold in 2016 from 46 African countries, most of which did not list these exports in their national records.
A new 2025 study by SwissAid has further exposed the scale of the problem. In Ghana alone, the report estimates that the country lost more than $11 billion in just four years due to the smuggling of artisanal gold across its borders and into Dubai without passing through the official export system. The study highlights a persistent gap between what Ghana reports as exported gold and what partner countries—particularly the UAE—record as imports.
Similar patterns have been observed in Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries destabilised in recent years by coups and armed conflict. Weak state institutions have enabled armed groups to seize control of mining areas, smuggling large quantities of gold across porous borders. Revenues from this illicit trade are believed to fuel insurgencies and worsen regional insecurity. Once the gold crosses into neighbouring states, it is eventually laundered into the global market through Dubai’s gold centres.
Sudan represents one of the clearest cases of the link between conflict and gold smuggling. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo, have long relied on gold revenues—particularly from the Jebel Amer mines in Darfur—to finance their operations. Investigations by Global Witness found that the RSF controls complex networks of companies that channel gold profits through Sudan and into the UAE. Since the outbreak of Sudan’s civil war in 2023, the flow of smuggled gold from RSF-held territories is believed to have increased even further.
The UAE has repeatedly insisted that it has strengthened its oversight of the gold sector and tightened measures against money laundering, noting its recent removal from the FATF ‘grey list’ and the EU high-risk list. However, transparency advocates such as Global Witness and The Sentry say significant gaps remain, especially regarding the traceability of gold entering Dubai’s refining and trading centres.
Experts warn that without genuine transparency and robust tracking systems—from the point of extraction to the refinery—African nations will continue to lose vast mineral wealth while criminal networks and armed groups benefit. Meanwhile, Dubai is likely to remain the world’s key transit hub for gold of unknown or illicit origin.
