(Ecofin Agency) - Surface taxes for operators of gold deposits located in eastern Cameroon, have recently been raised. According to the Sous-préfet of Bétéra Oya, in the Eastern region, this tax has increased “from FCFA 5/m²/yr to FCFA 50/m²/yr”.  

Thus raising a 10-fold, this tax allows the public treasury to increase its revenues. The augmentation arises from the exercise for the rehabilitation and reorganization of the industry launched by Minister of Mines in May 2014. At the time, as one could recall, the issuing of artisanal exploitation permits was suspended in Cameroon.

Following this decision, Jean Kisito Mvogo, director of mines and geology at the Ministry of Mines, explained: “The Minister took this decision upon receiving a report from our team which had conducted a global inspection of mining sites in the Eastern region. It was found during this evaluation that many operators holding exploration permits began exploitation, mostly disregarding environmental norms”.

However, as the suspension was lifted in April 2015, major changes were implemented. Amongst these, there is the revaluation of the surface tax and other taxes, a better system for the issuing of exploitation permits, as they are now submitted to approval by the Mines head office, instead of the regional office.