8: Gold is one of Earth's most valuable resources,

12: with one kilogram regularly valued at over 55,000 US dollars.

17: In 2020, Mali produced an estimated 71.2 tons of gold.

22: But Mali only saw $850 million from gold in 2020,

27: when that amount is worth billions,

29: not to mention that the country likely produced much more

32: than the reported 71.2 tons.

34: The situation isn't unique:

37: a number of other gold-rich countries in Africa,

40: including Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire,

44: Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Niger

47: also aren't seeing the income they should, given the price of gold.

51: The force behind this is greed

53: on an individual, corporate, and national scale,

57: and a corrupt system that perpetuates itself.

60: Although Mali has abundant gold,

62: the country lacks the infrastructure to mine and export it.

66: So the government allows multinational corporations to apply for licenses

70: to mine gold in exchange for taxes paid to Mali's government.

73: These taxes should, theoretically, finance development,

77: like building the infrastructure to mine gold, improve the economy,

81: and provide citizens with public goods like healthcare and education.

85: Tax money alone isn't enough to do these things, of course:

89: a government also has to be invested in its people's well-being,

93: and government corruption can prevent progress.

96: But without adequate funds,

97: even the best intentioned government doesn't stand a chance

100: of improving circumstances for its citizens.

104: Foreign corporations exploit Mali's need for tax revenue

107: to get the government to sign on to very unfavorable yet perfectly legal contracts.

112: For example, one such contract stated that no corporate taxes would be owed

117: for the first five years, costing Mali millions in tax revenue.

121: Meanwhile, mining licenses sometimes allow these corporations to take samples of gold

126: out of the country without registering them

128: or paying taxes on them.

130: These should be small amounts of gold used to test for quality,

133: but the license doesn't limit the size of samples,

136: so this creates a loophole

138: where corporations export large amounts of gold without paying any tax.

143: The multinational corporations are also evading taxes

147: they are legally required to pay.

149: They filter profits through a labyrinth of tax havens that's difficult to trace.

153: Or they exaggerate their expenses so they end up owing very little in taxes.

158: For instance, a corporation in Mali uses a subsidiary in Ireland

162: to manage its operations and another subsidiary in the Netherlands

166: to license its brand name.

168: The corporation in Mali pays management fees to the Irish subsidiary

172: and pays intellectual property license fees to the Dutch company,

176: all for enormous sums.

178: These costs are deducted from overall profits,

181: leaving the amount subject to taxes at a bare minimum.

185: These companies also buy gold on the black market.

188: Local, small-scale miners often operate without a license,

191: so the government is unaware of how much gold they mine.

194: Corporations buy gold from these miners,

196: avoiding the cost of mining the gold themselves,

199: and pay the miners far below market value.

202: Then they turn around and tell the government

204: they incurred huge expenses mining gold they didn't mine at all.

208: There's no way for Mali's revenue authority to verify this information,

212: causing the country to lose even more tax money.

216: Similarly, corporations pay corrupt government officials

219: to help them smuggle gold across borders, primarily to the United Arab Emirates,

224: rather than operating through legal channels.

227: In 2016, Mali reported around $200 million of exported gold,

233: but the UAE reported receiving slightly over $1.5 billion of imported gold

238: from Mali that same year.

240: The gold is then sold to European, American, and Asian markets from the UAE,

246: with no questions asked about its origins.

248: Similar patterns can be seen with gold-rich countries across Africa,

252: indicating that gold smuggling is happening on a massive scale,

255: without ever being subject to taxes.

258: All of this creates a vicious cycle,

261: forcing a continued reliance

263: on the corporations that helped create the situation in the first place.

267: More than half of Mali's citizens live below the international poverty line,

271: while their nation's wealth lines the pockets of foreign corporations

274: and corrupt officials.