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According to estimates, 90% of the artisanal gold mined in Senegal goes to Mali via informal circuits. A shortfall for Dakar, which seeks to regulate the sector.
This is a project that all the Sahelian states are trying to put in place and Senegal is no exception. Because the observation is hard to hear: only about 10% of the gold produced in a traditional way in the country would pass through counters approved by the State. And only 10% can therefore be taxed on export. The rest goes through the hands of Malian intermediaries and, to a lesser extent, Guineans. A flight facilitated by the geographical proximity of the Senegalese gold zones with the Malian border. But also by well-oiled circuits and attractive prices.
Malian collectors often buy at 80 or 90% of the world price, even if the gold is not pure, explains Cherif Sow, international consultant in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (Emape). Malian intermediaries also have the financial capacity to buy large quantities. “They then recover a sufficient margin, via small arrangements locally then in Mali“, explains our interlocutor.
An export tax that is too high?
Senegal produces about 13 tonnes of gold per year, via the industrial circuit, but sees the essential of the four tonnes of gold from its artisanal mines evaporate. Hence the will today of the authorities to regulate and formalize the sector.
►Also read: What are the repercussions of gold for Mali?
A report submitted last week to the Senegalese ministry recommends as a solution the abolition of the export tax introduced in 2018. At 4%, it is one of the highest in the sub-region. It obviously did not bring in the expected tax revenue, but rather “accentuated the flight of goldaccording to Cherif Sow, who is the lead author of the report. “Its removal is a complaint from gold buyers in the city of Kédougou who experience it as a handicap“, he adds.
Waiting for West African regulations
Togo has tested a radical formula: it does not impose a tax on the export of gold. One of the measures which certainly explains why the country has become one of the main exporters of gold in the region when it does not produce any.
Faced with the disparities and challenges posed by gold panning in the West African zone, ECOWAS has also been working for months on industry regulation.