Uganda’s $3.95bn Gold Exports Raise Questions Over Revenue, Local Benefits

What the report says

Uganda’s gold exports rose sharply in the first half of the 2025/26 financial year, reaching $3.95 billion, according to the Finance Ministry’s half-year macroeconomic and fiscal performance report as reported by Nile Post. That was up 124.7% from $1.76 billion in the same period a year earlier. But the ministry’s estimate of about $495 million in net earnings has revived debate over how much of the trade’s value stays in Uganda.

The report, discussed on NBS Morning Breeze with Uganda Association of Artisanal and Small-scale Miners chief executive Kenneth Asiimwe and extractives analyst James Opito, focused on whether the current tax system allows the government to capture a fair share of the sector’s gains. Opito argued that a fixed export levy may not rise with gold prices in the way a percentage-based royalty would. The Uganda Revenue Authority currently lists an export levy of $200 per kilogramme on processed gold.

The article also noted that gross export figures do not equal tax revenue, and that much of the gold exported through Uganda is imported for refining and re-export rather than mined locally. That makes it difficult to know how much benefit reaches miners, processors and local communities without more detailed data on production, imports, taxes and costs.

Asiimwe pushed back on the idea that small-scale miners lack bargaining power, while also questioning who should pay for traceability systems. The story comes as Uganda expands domestic processing, including the Wagagai Gold Project in Busia District, which was commissioned in August 2025 and is intended to boost refining capacity and jobs.