Uganda’s Gold Exports Surge Past Coffee, Reshaping Economy

UGANDA

Uganda’s export landscape is undergoing a striking transformation, with gold overtaking coffee to become the nation’s top foreign-exchange earner last year, according to central bank data.

In 2025, the value of Uganda’s gold exports increased by an extraordinary 75.8%, rising to approximately $5.8 billion from $3.3 billion the previous year. That surge, fueled by record international gold prices and an influx of new market participants, has lifted the precious metal past coffee, which has long been the backbone of the country’s external revenue.

Economists said the shift underscores how global market dynamics and regional trade patterns can quickly alter a country’s economic profile. Amid elevated geopolitical tensions, gold’s appeal as a “safe-haven” asset propelled prices up more than 64% in 2025, according to analysts, drawing traders into Uganda’s expanding bullion sector.

“Higher global prices have encouraged new entrants into the business,” said Adam Mugume, executive director for research and economic analysis at the Bank of Uganda. “That has generated a significant volume of exports.”

Uganda’s gold boom is not primarily the result of a dramatic rise in domestic mining. The country produces relatively little gold itself, but over the past decade it has emerged as a regional processing and trading hub, handling bullion from neighboring countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

Last year also saw the opening of Uganda’s first large-scale gold mine, a $250 million Chinese-owned operation in the eastern part of the country, signaling growing international confidence in the sector, even as domestic production remains modest.

By contrast, coffee, historically Uganda’s most iconic export, brought in considerably less foreign exchange. Although coffee shipments have continued to grow modestly in value and volume, they have not kept pace with the explosive rise in gold receipts, illustrating the uneven impact of global commodity markets on African economies.

The shift has broader implications for Uganda’s economy. Foreign exchange earnings from gold play an outsized role in supporting the country’s currency and financing imports, but heavy reliance on a single volatile commodity also exposes policymakers to global price swings. Analysts caution that a diversified export base could provide greater resilience over the long term.

For many Ugandans, the prominence of gold exports represents both opportunity and uncertainty: the sector draws investment and revenue, but it has yet to match coffee in terms of jobs and economic reach, particularly in rural communities where coffee farming supports millions of livelihoods.

As Uganda navigates these changes, observers said, its evolving export mix highlights how shifting global demand and regional trade dynamics can reshape national economies in unexpected ways.