SwissAid: Tougher UAE Rules Did Not Slow African Gold Smuggling in 2024

What the new report says

SwissAid, the Bern-based NGO, released an update on Thursday on how much African gold is reaching the United Arab Emirates despite tighter sourcing rules. A report the group published two years earlier concluded that billions of dollars' worth of gold leave Africa illicitly every year, with the bulk ultimately going to the UAE for processing.

According to the new calculation, the UAE received 413 tons of gold illicitly sourced from African countries in 2024, a slight uptick from 2023. When SwissAid also counted material moved unlawfully through neighboring countries and not formally declared where it was mined, it estimated at least 453 tons transited via the UAE, worth about $60 billion at prevailing prices. As the group wrote, "Emirati Due Diligence Regulations have not led to any decrease in imports of African smuggled gold into the UAE."

How the rules and oversight stack up

The UAE introduced new due-diligence requirements in early 2023 aimed at pushing refiners toward more responsible sourcing. In 2024, authorities halted operations at 32 refineries as part of a wider effort to close compliance gaps and bolster safeguards targeting money laundering and illegal commerce.

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The country is currently in its routine evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force, the worldwide monitor of money-laundering risks. After revamping its controls, the UAE was taken off FATF's gray list in 2024, and the newest assessment is slated for consideration early next year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.

Where the gaps show up

SwissAid's methodology compares differences between what African nations report exporting and what the UAE reports importing. Guinea, Mali, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria posted the biggest absolute gaps, with Guinea alone missing more than 92 tons in 2024. The NGO also notes that "significant volumes" of gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo are illicitly moved into Rwanda and Uganda, then formally declared there prior to shipment to the UAE.

UAE authorities disputed SwissAid's interpretation, arguing that mismatches stem from inadequate export oversight in producing countries, not failures in the UAE. UAE officials challenged SwissAid's reading, contending the discrepancies stem from weak export oversight in producing nations rather than shortcomings within the UAE. SwissAid added that the majority of refineries undergoing third-party audits in the 2023-2025 window were judged non-compliant with the stricter standards, whereas dealers and traders face no equivalent external review. The group labeled this a major gap, since many refineries rely solely on those intermediaries for supply.

Why investors should care

According to SwissAid, more than 50% of the UAE's gold imports from Africa consist of metal obtained through illicit channels. Only Ghana markedly narrowed the export-import gap after 2022, which the NGO links to policies in Ghana itself, including removing a tax on exports and setting up a state agency that has exclusive responsibility for arranging shipments of artisanal gold. In plain English: persistent trade discrepancies and uneven compliance underscore how much of Africa's gold still moves through opaque channels, a factor that can influence supply routes and the risk profile around gold flows linked to the UAE.

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