Cameroon elaborates a security guidebook to tighten controls over illegal precious stone and metal trades

(Business in Cameroon) – To intensify controls over the circulation of precious metal and stones at airports and border areas in the country, Cameroon has elaborated a security procedure guidebook. According to Minister of Mines Gabriel Dodo Ndoke who recently disclosed the information before the parliament, the guidebook is “undergoing validation.”

He provided no details on when the guidebook will become effective or its content. However, the announcement comes in a context where although it is still a minor diamond producer globally (pending the launch of exploitation at its various diamond deposits) Cameroon is already present in the international market. According to the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the main buyers of Cameroonian diamonds are Belgium and the United Arab Emirates. In a recent note on the world diamond market, the central bank of CEMAC countries revealed that in 2018, 55.31% of Cameroon’s diamond exports went to the United Arab Emirates, 40.95% to Belgium, and 3.73% to Switzerland.

The Minister of Mines also revealed that this year (2021), the country issued seven diamond export permits concerning 182.05 karats worth XAF13.36 million. Those certificates generated XAF2.7 million tax revenues for the State. Those revenues could have been improved if controls were tightened at the various borders where the precious stones and metals are illegally exported generating revenue shortfalls for the public treasury, he explained. Hence the project for a security guidebook for the National Permanent Secretariat for the Kimberley Process that controls precious stones in Cameroon. 

S.A.