The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has been asked to explain the missing US$295 million from gold exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2021.
RBZ reported that Zimbabwe exported 28 468kg of gold to UAE for US$1 604 058 775 in 2021.
However, UAE reported that it received 34 340kg of gold from Zimbabwe for US$1 898 899 693 in 2021.
This means US$294 840 918 is unaccounted for or RBZ underreported its exports by that figure.
In a Twitter post seen by Pindula News, Team Pachedu, an online political activism group, demanded to know how could UAE import more than Zimbabwe exported. Said Team Pachedu:
Dear @ReserveBankZIM
You reported that Zimbabwe exported US$1.7 Billion gold worldwide in 2021, however, United Arab Emirates says that they imported US$1.9 Billion gold from Zimbabwe in 2021. How does UAE import more than what you exported? Explain the discrepancy!
This comes as authorities are under fire for alleged gold illicit trade after some government officials and offices were named in Al Jazeera’s documentary – Gold Mafia – as involved in gold smuggling operations.
Episode 01 of the documentary was released last week, episode 02 is expected this Thursday.
In the documentary, Tendai Biti, a former Minister of Finance and Economic Development, claimed that Zimbabwe was losing gold worth about US$1.2 billion every year.
Government officials are denying the allegations.