Zambia plans to follow Ghana's example in regulating small-scale gold mining, unlocking over 1.8 billion USD in economic value

(1) Muyangwa, CEO of the Zambian state-owned mining investment institution ZCCM, stated that they plan to draw inspiration from Ghana’s industry standardization model to restructure the small-scale gold sector, aiming to unlock over $1.8 billion in economic value. (2) Currently, informal trade severely distorts official export data: in 2023, the UAE imported nearly $1.8 billion worth of gold from Zambia, Hong Kong imported $108 million, but according to official statistics from the Zambian central bank, the official gold export value for that year was less than $128 million. (3) Muyangwa pointed out that by reorganizing existing informal trade, the official scale of gold exports could be greatly increased, releasing potential revenue.