The Bank of Uganda (BoU) has executed its first gold transaction under a newly launched domestic purchasing programme, formally shifting from announcement to action in its strategy to back the country’s foreign exchange reserves with locally mined bullion.
The central bank confirmed in an April 20, 2026 notice that test purchases under the three-year pilot were executed on April 17, with the aim of building and diversifying Uganda’s foreign exchange reserves portfolio by purchasing and processing domestically mined gold and incorporating it into official reserves.
The BoU has signed contracts with two local firms, EuroGold Refinery Limited and Feldstein Trading Limited, to begin buying gold, starting with an initial 100 kilograms valued at approximately 592 billion Uganda shillings, equivalent to around 160 million United States dollars.
Under the framework, gold will be bought from eligible, prequalified, and licensed miners, with payments made in Uganda shillings based on prevailing international gold prices. After purchase, gold will be delivered to designated refineries for assaying before being stored at the central bank, then either refined domestically or processed to meet international monetary gold standards before being certified and incorporated into Uganda’s official foreign exchange reserves.
Traceability sits at the core of the programme’s design, anchored on a chain-of-custody framework developed with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development that aligns with Uganda’s obligations under the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region Regional Certification Mechanism, which requires member states to verify mineral origin and prevent illicit flows.
The three-year controlled window will allow BoU to test operations, strengthen controls, and apply lessons before scaling up. For years, Uganda’s reserves were held mainly in United States Treasuries, euro assets, and Special Drawing Rights. Gold carries no counterparty risk and tends to hold value when financial assets weaken.
In recent years Uganda has emerged as a major regional gold processor and trader, exporting 5.8 billion dollars worth of gold last year, a 76 percent increase from 2024, though small-scale wildcat miners still dominate domestic production.
The pilot targets between seven and ten tonnes of gold annually, building from the initial procurement of at least 100 kilograms between March and June 2026.
The programme positions Uganda alongside a growing number of African nations pursuing the same strategy. Ghana has been at the forefront of the continental trend since 2021, with the Bank of Ghana’s domestic gold purchase programme helping push the country’s gold reserves to more than 37 tonnes by late 2025 and contributing to the cedi’s strong performance against the United States dollar.
