POLICY GUIDANCE COMBATING ILLICIT GOLD MARKETS IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN

Illicit financial flows and criminal networks play an instrumental role in shaping ASGM activity and flows, although the scale and frequency of transactions, the depravity of actors, and the subsequent impacts vary greatly geographically and according to the actors. [...] The AMV explicitly states that ASM ‘represents a special challenge, which requires a separate discussion and tailor-made approaches’.17 The adoption and implementation of the AMV and EAC will support efforts to harmonize and coordinate efforts in the eastern and southern African regions. [...] It also provides a means of transparent and accountable mechanisms for the reporting of mining and mineral related activities in the community in a joint environment that will make it easier to declare and track the gold trade within and outside the region. [...] The digitalization of land and mining rights and concessions has the potential to streamline bureaucratic processes and make the formal sector more accessible to ASGM stakeholders, in particular the digitalization of cadastre systems. [...] Relevant reforms include the deployment of Rwandan and Ugandan customs officials in Kenya, and upgrading and interfacing of customs information technology systems.82 Similarly, the implementation of the East African Community Customs and Management Act has been one of the successes of regional integration in the EAC.