Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A section of Uganda’s artisanal miners has expressed relief following the launch of the country’s first state-of-the-art gold refinery in Kampala, a move they say will help curb the widespread fraud by fake gold dealers and scammers.
Joseph Dave Mwebesa, an artisanal miner operating in Busia and Mubende, recalled numerous instances over his 12-year career where he and fellow miners were defrauded by impostors posing as legitimate gold buyers. He welcomed the new facility as a much-needed safe and regulated market for small-scale gold producers.
The Euro Gold Refinery, owned by Feni Benard and backed by foreign investors from the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and India, will source gold directly from artisanal miners in regions such as Busia, Karamoja, Buhweju, Kassanda, and West Nile.
In an interview with URN, Feni Benard, Director of Euro Gold Refinery, said the facility is approved by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the international trade body that sets global standards for gold and silver bars.
He emphasized that the refinery offers a credible and transparent platform for artisanal miners to sell their gold, helping to eliminate fraud while creating employment opportunities and offering consultancy services in mineral trading.
Feni also noted that the refinery promotes sustainable, eco-friendly practices and offers services including smelting, assaying, refining, and facilitating international mineral trade. The company is partnering with small-scale miners in both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He revealed that Euro Gold Refinery holds multiple licenses, including a mineral refining license and a mineral dealer’s license. Beyond the refinery operations, the company has been granted a concession by the Ugandan government to mine gold in a 79.8 square kilometer area in Yumbe District, as well as other sites in the Karamoja sub-region.
Speaking during the official commissioning of the facility along Katego Road in Kamwokya, Kampala, on Tuesday, July 2025, Energy and Mineral Development Minister Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu described the Euro Gold Refinery as “the first facility officially recognized by the government.”
The Minister urged the company to develop a robust human resource strategy and collaborate with the Bank of Uganda, which recently announced plans to purchase refined gold to bolster the country’s foreign reserves. This marks a major policy shift, coming nearly a year after the central bank launched its Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
The establishment of the refinery is expected to help the government curb gold-related fraud and recover lost tax revenues. In February 2025, Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, Beata Chelimo, revealed that gold scams had become a major form of organized crime involving both local and foreign nationals posing as legitimate dealers. Chelimo said that over 24 security personnel had been arrested in connection with gold scam syndicates that tricked investors with false promises of high returns.
In 2024, the Auditor General’s report disclosed that gold worth $3.014 billion (approximately UGX 11 trillion) was exported illegally without the requisite permits from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, violating Section 149 of the Mining and Minerals Act, Cap 159.
President Yoweri Museveni banned the export of unprocessed minerals after signing the Mining and Minerals Bill into law in 2021. During his State of the Nation Address on June 7, 2022, he announced that Uganda had discovered 31 million metric tonnes of gold, with an estimated 320,000 metric tonnes of extractable pure gold, valued at US$12.8 trillion.
Gold has since emerged as Uganda’s top export. In the 12 months leading up to February 2025, it accounted for 37% of export revenue. By June 2024, gold exports had reached $3.09 billion, contributing nearly 50% of Uganda’s non-coffee export earnings.
According to planetGOLD, Uganda’s artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector directly employs between 400,000 and 600,000 people and indirectly supports another 2 million. While mechanization is on the rise, the majority of these miners still rely on manual extraction methods.
The opening of the Euro Gold Refinery marks a significant milestone in formalizing Uganda’s gold industry and safeguarding the livelihoods of thousands who depend on it.
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