Kampala Hosts East Africa Gold Summit Attracting Regional Mining Leaders
For Immediate Release
KAMPALA, UGANDA — Kampala has hosted the inaugural East Africa Gold Summit, bringing together mining sector leaders, government representatives, and international buyers from across the region in a two-day conference designed to strengthen collaboration, address shared governance challenges, and promote East Africa as a unified and credible source of responsibly produced gold.
The Summit, held at the Kampala Serena Hotel, was attended by delegations from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, alongside representatives from the UAE, Switzerland, India, and China as major international gold market participants.
Uganda's selection as the host nation reflects Kampala's growing role as a regional hub for gold aggregation, refining, and export logistics. The city's established precious metals infrastructure, its central geographic position within the East African Community, and the strength of Uganda's institutional relationships with producing communities across the region made it a natural choice for a forum of this kind.
The Summit's agenda covered four main areas: responsible sourcing and supply chain transparency, artisanal sector formalisation across the region, the development of regional gold price discovery mechanisms, and strategies for attracting long-term international investment into East Africa's gold sector.
"The East Africa Gold Summit in Kampala is exactly the kind of forum the region needs. East Africa's gold-producing nations share many of the same opportunities and challenges, and addressing them collectively produces better outcomes than each country working in isolation. Kampala's role as host reflects Uganda's growing stature as the anchor of the region's precious metals economy." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
A significant outcome of the Summit was the adoption of the Kampala Declaration on Responsible Gold, a non-binding regional commitment framework setting out shared principles for artisanal sector governance, environmental stewardship, and supply chain due diligence across the signatory nations.
The Declaration establishes a regional peer review mechanism under which participating countries will share data and policy experience on formalisation progress and commit to minimum standards for miner registration, gold aggregation, and export documentation.
"The Kampala Declaration is a meaningful step toward regional coherence in gold sector governance. When East African nations speak with a common voice on responsible sourcing, it strengthens the credibility of the entire region in conversations with international buyers and creates a more level playing field for operators and governments across the gold belt." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
The Summit also featured a trade and investment exhibition attended by over 80 companies operating across the East African gold sector, providing a platform for networking, deal-making, and the showcasing of new technologies for artisanal mining, assaying, and refining.
Organisers confirmed that the East Africa Gold Summit will be held annually, with Uganda committed to hosting the event in Kampala for a minimum of three consecutive years to provide continuity and build the summit's profile as the region's premier precious metals forum.
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