Why verification in this market is different
In most commodity markets, checking a counterparty is simple: check the registration, run a KYC screen, confirm the bank details, and proceed. The documents are digitised and the registries are easy to reach.
African gold markets add complexity. Rules change fast; Ghana overhauled its entire licensing system in April 2025 under Act 1140, and every PMMC licence issued before that became invalid overnight. A structure that was compliant six months ago may not be today, and online registries can lag behind reality. Documents alone will not tell you this. Verify a supplier through documents, registries, and direct contact with the issuing authority. Skip any one of the three and you leave a gap that fraud can exploit.
Step 1: Verify the trading licence through the issuing authority
Every legitimate gold exporter holds a licence from a national regulator. Find out which body issues it, then contact that body directly, not through the supplier.
In Ghana, the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), created under Act 1140 of 2025, now issues all licences for artisanal and small-scale gold. Check goldbod.gov.gh to confirm whether a named entity holds a valid licence. A supplier showing a PMMC or Minerals Commission export licence is relying on a framework that expired on 30 April 2025. That is not automatically disqualifying (some large-scale miners keep direct export rights), but it needs clarifying before anything else moves forward.
In Tanzania, the Mining Commission issues the Mineral Dealer's Licence (MDL). Its portal, madini.go.tz, is a useful reference point, and the Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency (TMAA) can confirm whether a named exporter has a documented export history.
In Mali, the Direction Nationale de la Géologie et des Mines (DNGM) registers licensed dealers under the 2023 Mining Code. See mines.gouv.ml for contacts.
In Burkina Faso, the 2024 Mining Code (Act No. 016-2024/ALT) puts gold trading under the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Quarries. Since February 2024, the government has suspended independent exports of artisanal and semi-mechanised gold; miners and trading houses with gold to sell must go through the state entity SONASP, created in 2023 to replace the former artisanal mining agency ANEEMAS (source: AFP, via Boursorama, February 2024). A supplier claiming to export artisanal gold outside this framework deserves extra scrutiny.
Step 2: Cross-check company registration
A trading licence and a company registration are two different documents; you need both. The company name, registration number, and directors should match exactly across them. Mismatches, a different spelling, a different director, a different address, show up in fraud cases, but also happen innocently after an administrative update. Either way, ask for an explanation before continuing.
Company registries are public: Ghana's Office of the Registrar of Companies, Tanzania's Business Registration and Licensing Agency (BRELA), and the RCCM (Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier) in Mali and Burkina Faso. Check the supplier's certificate of incorporation against the live registry, not just the paper copy.
Step 3: Verify bank account details and confirm they are consistent
This is where most fraud in this market happens. A supplier builds trust with solid-looking paperwork, then, right at the point of payment, provides bank details that differ from the ones on the original documents.
The rule is simple: the payment account must match every document in the file, and it must be held in the name of the licensed entity, not an individual. A request to pay a personal account, a third-party agent, or any name other than the licensed exporter is a disqualifying event, whatever the explanation.
Before any advance or payment, three checks are mandatory. First, confirm the SWIFT/BIC code actually belongs to the bank named in the documents; SWIFT codes are structured and assigned per institution, and a mismatch between the code and the claimed bank is an immediate red flag. Second, check that the account number or IBAN is validly formatted for that country; each country follows a fixed structure and length, and a malformed or inconsistent number is easy to catch before any money moves. Third, run due diligence on the bank details and the contact information provided, not just the account itself, but the branch, the relationship manager named, and how that contact was sourced. Details provided exclusively through the supplier, with no way to independently confirm them, are not verified; they are simply unconfirmed.
Step 4: Confirm the licence covers export, not just trading
Transaction documents from a supplier's past deals are confidential, and a legitimate counterpart is not obliged, and often not able, to hand over another buyer's paperwork as proof of track record. Asking for it puts a genuine supplier in an impossible position and is not a reliable test either way.
What you can and should verify directly with the issuing authority is whether the licence itself covers export, not just domestic trading or aggregation, and whether the entity has the logistics and rights in place to move gold out of the country: an active export permit process, a relationship with an accredited assay lab, and access to the port or airport channel the country requires. In Ghana, that means confirming with GoldBod whether the entity is cleared to export or only to aggregate. In Tanzania, the Mining Commission can confirm whether an MDL holder's licence extends to export. In Mali, the DNGM can confirm the same for a registered dealer. A supplier with a valid trading licence but no confirmed export authorisation cannot legally deliver the gold, whatever else is in order.
A supplier with no confirmed export history is not automatically a red flag; every exporter has a first transaction. But a supplier whose licence does not cover export changes the deal entirely, and that is what this step is designed to catch.
Step 5: AML and sanctions screening
Standard AML screening applies: the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals list, the UN Consolidated Sanctions List, the EU financial sanctions register, and INTERPOL notices (searchable at interpol.int). For transactions above a commercially meaningful threshold, run a World-Check or Refinitiv screen on the named directors and beneficial owners.
Burkina Faso needs extra care here. The country has been under military transitional rule since a second coup in September 2022, led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, and its mining sector has since been restructured with state-linked entities, including SONASP, taking a bigger role (source: AFP, via Boursorama, February 2024). Know who really controls the counterpart entity, and confirm that none of the individuals behind it appear on international sanctions lists. That is a compliance baseline for any transaction of substance, not an optional extra.
The consistency test
One principle holds across all five steps: a legitimate supplier does not mind thorough verification. They have already done it themselves with their own counterparts. They have a paper trail, a registered company, a clean sanctions profile, and bank details that have not changed since the account was opened. They will tell you to contact the regulatory authority, because they know the authority will confirm their status.
Friction at any step, reluctance to share documents, excuses for skipped checks, or pressure to move commercially before verification is finished, is information. It does not prove fraud. But it means pausing until the friction is resolved, rather than proceeding.