The Democratic Republic of Congo has received its first consignment of refined gold bars at the central bank, marking the operational launch of a programme to reconstitute the country's monetary gold reserves. The delivery represents a significant shift for a country that has held minimal monetary gold for nearly five decades, during which a substantial portion of its gold production exited through informal and unrecorded trade channels.
The programme is underpinned by an agreement between the central bank and state-owned DRC Gold Trading SA, supported by a newly established refinery located in Kalemie. The arrangement enables locally mined gold to be processed domestically and transferred directly into official reserves, closing a longstanding gap between gross gold production and state capture of its value.
Authorities have framed the initiative as a mechanism to improve transparency in the gold supply chain, strengthen revenue collection, and retain greater economic value within the country. No figures were disclosed regarding the volume or value of the initial delivery, the targeted reserve accumulation level, or the operational capacity of the Kalemie refinery.
