Gold exports more than doubled in the first half of 2025/26, but the Finance Ministry’s estimate of $495 million in net earnings has renewed debate over taxation, local mining and how much value Uganda retains.
Uganda’s gold exports reached $3.95 billion in the first half of the 2025/26 financial year, but net earnings of about $495 million have raised questions about how much value the country retains from the expanding trade.
The Ministry of Finance’s half-year macroeconomic and fiscal performance report shows that gold exports rose by 124.7 per cent, from $1.76 billion in the first half of 2024/25 to $3.95 billion in the corresponding period of 2025/26.
However, net gold earnings, calculated as exports minus imports, stood at about $495 million because a substantial share of exported gold is imported, refined in Uganda and re-exported.
The figures featured on NBS Morning Breeze, where Kenneth Asiimwe, chief executive officer of the Uganda Association of Artisanal and Small-scale Miners, and extractives sector analyst James Opito examined whether the growth in gold exports is translating into sufficient government revenue and benefits for local miners and communities.
Opito questioned whether Uganda’s gold taxation framework enables the government to capture a fair share of the value generated by rising international prices and export earnings.
He argued that a fixed export levy limits the potential for public revenue to rise in line with gold prices, compared with a charge calculated as a percentage of the value of gold.
“If we had maintained the royalty charge of 5%, for example, that would mean, for whichever gold we have and which we have processed, we would have a mechanism,” Opito said.
He acknowledged that a fixed charge could simplify revenue collection and the distribution of proceeds among central government, local governments and landowners.
Uganda’s gold tax regime has previously been debated over the balance between collecting revenue and encouraging domestic refining. The Uganda Revenue Authority lists an export levy of $200 per kilogramme on processed gold.
Earlier debates also involved proposals for percentage-based charges on processed and unprocessed minerals.
The debate raises questions about whether the current system captures enough public revenue from the trade. However, gross export earnings and net foreign exchange earnings are not the same as government tax receipts, and the figures alone do not establish how much revenue the state collects from gold.
Uganda’s gold trade includes locally mined supplies and gold sourced from neighbouring countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, for processing and re-export. Consequently, the value of gold exported through Uganda does not necessarily represent the value of gold mined domestically.
Determining the benefits retained locally requires clearer information on domestic production, imported volumes, processing costs, export earnings, taxes and the income reaching miners, processors and other businesses.
Asiimwe challenged portrayals of artisanal and small-scale miners as incapable of assessing the value of their gold or negotiating better prices.
“If you feel you are not getting value, look for the value,” he said.
He argued that miners understand the value of their products and can seek competitive buyers. However, the prices they receive may also be affected by production costs, access to financing and processing facilities, and the number of buyers available to them.
The discussion did not establish how much of the final export value reaches individual miners, leaving open questions about how earnings are distributed across the supply chain.
The cost of tracing gold from extraction to export was another point of contention. Traceability systems are intended to establish the origin of minerals and help identify supplies associated with illegal mining or other abuses.
Asiimwe questioned why artisanal miners should shoulder the costs of systems required by regulators and other institutions.
“You want to trace it, finance the tracing. Don't make it a burden of the miner,” he said.
He argued that miners already incur expenses on fuel, equipment and other inputs, while their spending supports wider economic activity in mining communities. He maintained that the sector’s contribution should be assessed beyond export levies to include other taxes, employment and spending on goods and services.
Uganda is also seeking to expand domestic production and processing through large-scale projects. One is the Wagagai Gold Project in Busia District, which was commissioned in August 2025.
The facility’s first phase is designed to process up to 5,000 tonnes of ore daily and produce approximately 1.2 tonnes of refined gold annually.
The project illustrates the potential for local processing to create jobs, develop skills and strengthen domestic supply chains. But production capacity alone does not establish actual output or the level of tax revenue and income ultimately retained in Uganda.
The discussion on NBS Morning Breeze highlighted the need for more detailed and transparent data on domestic gold production, imports, exports, taxes and the distribution of earnings across the sector.
With gold emerging as Uganda’s leading export commodity, the central economic question is whether the expansion of the trade can translate into stronger public revenue, greater participation by local businesses and measurable improvements in the livelihoods of miners and their communities.