(Business in Cameroon) - According to the auditors’ report on the Central African States Bank (BEAC), Cameroon’s gold reserves were estimated to be a little over 29,954 ounces in December 31, 2014. These reserves had a monetary value of 19.5 billion FCF compared to 17 billion FCFA for the same period in 2013. This amounts to a 2.3 billion FCFA increase.

The report suggests that this increase in the gold reserves’ value can be attributed to the improvement in the price per ounce of gold on the international market as the precious metl was going for “994 euros per ounce (around 651,000 FCFA) at the end of 2014, against 875 euros (around 573,000 FCFA) in late 2013.”

Of the five CEMAC countries having gold reserves at the central bank, (according to the report, Equatorial Guinea has none), Cameroon possesses the largest quantity, far ahead of Gabon, which has 12,837 ounces in the BEAC. The Congo, the Central African Republic and Chad are almost the same: 11, 125 ounces.