A new investigation by Swissaid has uncovered massive financial losses in Ghana's gold sector, revealing that billions of dollars are slipping through the cracks due to widespread smuggling.

The gold, mostly mined by small-scale operators, is being illegally moved out of the county with much of it ending up in Dubai without going through official export channels.

According to the report made public on June 11, 2025, a staggering gap of 229 metric tons worth an amount of $11.4 billion between what Ghana reports as gold exports and what importing countries, especially the United Arab Emirates, record over five years.

According to the findings, a large amount of this gold is being hand-carried or shipped as undeclared cargo on flights into Dubai, taking advantage of lax rules that do not require gold brought in by individuals to be declared.

The head of the Sahel Programme at Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, who studies artisanal mining and regional insurgencies, said;

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. Hand-carried gold does not have to be declared in Dubai. Informal gold is mostly brought in on flights,” the foundation said.

The smuggling routes often run through neigthbouring countries like togo, Burkina Faso, and Mali, exploting weak border controls before the gold makes it way to UAE.

A top official of Ghana's Mineral Commission admitted the issue, describing it as a “notorious fact.”

Yet, the Ministry of Finance has remained silent, offering no response to inquiries about the growing losses.

The problem appears to have worsened after Ghana introduced a 3% witholding tax in 2019, aimed at regulating smale-scale exports.

Instead of helping, the tax pushed many miners to go underground causing kegal exports.

Instead of helping people to follow rules, the tax pushed many miners to hide their gold trade and smuggle it out of the country.

In response, the government lowered the tax to 1.5% in 2022 and eventually removed it altogether in March 2024.

This move, led by then Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, led to a boost in officially recorded exports this year.

Swissaid’s report estimates that in 2023 alone, around 34 metric tons of gold went unreported—an amount almost equal to all the officially declared production by artisanal miners.