Down the road from Uganda's main international airport, the gold refinery once controlled by sanctioned Belgian entrepreneur Alain Goetz sits behind a 'no access' sign. The African Gold Refinery was sanctioned by the US in 2022 along with Goetz and a network of companies Washington said helped finance armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where gold has long fueled conflict that has killed and displaced millions. The sanctions froze US-linked assets and barred companies globally from dealing with him and the named businesses.
But four years later, Thaba Investments, a company registered at the same address since 2021 and involving some of the same people as AGR, is responsible for nearly half of Uganda's gold exports — worth billions of dollars a year — using some of the same trade corridors and suppliers historically associated with Goetz's operations, according to a Bloomberg analysis of trade data, corporate filings and customs records. AGR itself is no longer operating and the board resolved to close the firm in April 2024. But Thaba has used some of the same intermediaries and the same logistics provider as AGR — which weren't sanctioned — to export gold to the United Arab Emirates and beyond.
Goetz denies any role in Thaba or knowledge of its ongoing business. The majority shareholder of Thaba, Musthaque Murikkoli, previously held an employment visa sponsored by AGR. A 2022 report by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said AGR was 'trading as Thaba Investments.' Three Western officials and one former senior Ugandan financial investigator said Goetz has continued to operate through proxies appointed to Thaba's board.
AGR accounted for about two-fifths of Uganda's gold export value from 2018 to 2021, totaling $1.8 billion. Thaba accounted for a similar share from 2023 through mid-2026, totaling $6.8 billion thanks to higher export volumes and increased gold prices.
来源: Bloomberg Markets · 由HeadlinesBriefing整理摘要