Chad wants to stop gold smuggling to Libya estimated at $91m every week

Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Déby has vowed to curtail the gold smuggling business depriving his country weekly of around $91 million in the advantage of Libya.

The head of the Chadian Transitional Military Council who took over from his father General Idriss Deby killed in April last year, told State radio that the shady business has to stop.

The Chadian president last week visited Kouri Bougoudi, a northern town where at least 100 small-scale miners died in clashes over access to gold last month.

Chadian authorities have been wrangling with security issues around the tri-border area between Chad, Libya and Niger where most of the gold mining, activities and trade take place.

The Chadian leader also vowed to ensure that Chadians would benefit from the gold mines in Kouri Bougoudi, Bloomberg reported.

“We will put in place mining services, tax authorities and customs. Foreigners who want to mine here will need a permit to do so,” Deby said. “The state will get its part, while the province will be entitled to 5% of revenue from its natural resources.”