Ugandan authorities said on Wednesday they are investigating the country’s biggest gold refinery over recent imports of an estimated 7.4 tonnes of gold, worth some $300 million. Ugandan state-run media has reported the gold could have originated from Venezuela, which has been selling gold to prop up its struggling, sanctions-hit economy. African Gold Refinery (AGR) said that the gold came from South America but gave no further details and rejected allegations of smuggling. Last year Uganda’s gold export earnings jumped 23 per cent to $514 million from the preceding year, overtaking coffee for the first time as the country’s top foreign exchange earner. The country shipped 13.2 tonnes of gold compared to 10.8 tonnes exported in 2017.

Source: The Star March 14, 2019 11:48 UTC