At SAGO 2026: Gov't calls for united front to end illegality in mining sector.

The member of government was speaking at the ongoing Fair on Government Action better known by its French acronym, SAGO. 

Prof Fuh Calistus was accompanied during the outing by his collaborators and some key stakeholders.  

In preliminary statement during a panel discussion at the Fair, Prof Fuh Calistus said there is glaring disparity between the gold from Cameroon in the international market and what is actually declared in Cameroon.

The discrepancies, he pointed out, are due to the gross illegally going on in the sector, that is causing the State huge sums of revenue the sector ought to generate for the interests of all citizens. 

The minister was clear that following directives from the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, government has launched a fierce war against illegality in the sector. He said the goal is to restructure the semi-mechanised sector. 

As part of the offensive on illegality, Prof Fuh Calistus revealed more than 100 mining companies that operated without authorisation in the East and Adamawa Regions have been dragged to court. 

He further assured that more companies are in the process of being dragged to court in accordance to existing mining laws. 

“…110 companies or more have already been brought to court out of the 200 we have published. There are still more companies that we will be taking to court in the coming days. The discrepancy between what is produced in Cameroon and what is declared abroad is due to incorrect declarations,” Prof Fuh Calistus revealed. 

Restructuring addresses imbalance in gold declaration

He said the restructuring takes into account technical, environmental, technological issues in order to redress the balance between what is declared and what is produced. 

Noting that the restructuring is not a concern for the ministry alone but for the entire nation. This, he said, is why all State administrations and services must form a united force to end disturbing illegality in the sector.

“We believe that other administrations, like the Customs Services, all other administrations have to join. It's no more a problem for the ministry of mines, it's a problem for the nation,” he stated.  

The minister when the restructuring of the artisanal mining sector will be fully implemented, Cameroonians will reclaim the artisanal sector with the law giving locals a threshold of 51%. 

“So, for all semi-mechanised production in Cameroon, Cameroonians must reclaim their 51%. When this is done illegally, Cameroonians are excluded and that is why we insist that illegality equals the discrepancy between what is declared and what is produced,” he explained.

Cameroon, a mining nation

Minister Fuh Calistus said Cameroon is a mining nation with ten key projects. He said five of the major mining projects will take effect this year after the five others launched in 2025. 

He cited amongst other key projects; the Minim-Martap bauxite project in Adamawa, Bipindi-Grand Zambi and Kribi-Lobe iron ore projects in the South. 

Since the start of the process of collecting gold, he said Cameroon has collected about 1.5 tonnes of gold, but the country has the potential of collecting close to 2 tonnes of gold per year upon complete restructuring of the sector. 

“The fallback to the State is enormous because our exportation tax, is collected at the source. If we declare correctly, we'll collect all our exportation tax and everybody carrying gold will be given that tax documents to move with,” he said.

The minister clarified that to implement the semi-mechanised system, the concerned company must together with the State, demonstrate that their operation will produce a minimum of 5kg of gold per month for primary mining and 3kg for alluvial mining.  

Opportunities for youths

Besides the benefits that the State will derive from the mining sector, Prof Fuh Calistus assured that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created for young compatriots. This, he said, is in addition to the several opportunities already created by the sector. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3814 of Thursday June 11, 2026