Executive Summary
Illicit gold trade across Africa sustains armed conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan, and the broader Sahel. Terrorists, state-linked actors, militias, and criminal networks extract, smuggle, and launder conflict gold through regional transit hubs into global markets.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE)* is an indispensable hub in this system. Existing regulatory frameworks have demonstrably failed to interrupt the flows. They bear structural gaps in auditability, jurisdictional reach, and intermediate refiner accountability. Therefore, they allow conflict gold to enter certified supply chains.
Eastern DRC, Sudan, and the Sahel remain the critical source zones. At the same time weak legislative barriers and the UAE’s enabling role sustain the system. Concurrently LBMA gold price set 53 new all-time highs during 2025 and prices reached nearly $5,600 per ounce in January 2026. Thus, the financial incentives driving illicit extraction are at a historic peak.
* Dubai’s dominance as a gold trading hub is structurally incentivised. The UAE levies zero import duties on gold, imposes no capital gains tax, and offers a low-regulation free-trade environment. This makes it the path of least resistance for gold of any origin.