We operate only inside formal channels. Gold earns the margin; grain puts that margin to work feeding the region. Every lot and every bag carries a paper trail.
AfriShield Gold Ltd offers international buyers a transparent, fully documented alternative to informal gold trade in East and Central Africa. We trade only with licence holders recognised under Uganda's Mining and Minerals Act, 2022, and, in the DRC, with registered cooperatives, négociants and comptoirs.
Our headquarters and trading desk are in Kampala. Gold is bought from licensed operators in Uganda and validated sites in eastern DRC, refined locally to 99.9% purity, then exported under a permit for each consignment. We do not buy gold of unknown or high-risk origin.
Uganda grows around 5 million tonnes of maize a year, and its neighbours buy much of the surplus. The DRC and South Sudan are now Uganda's biggest export markets, and Kenya plans to import up to 25 million bags of maize after a poor 2026 harvest. What the trade lacks is working capital and quality: farmers sell wet, ungraded grain cheaply at harvest because no one finances drying, grading and storage.
That is the gap AfriShield Grains fills. A fixed share of our gold trading margin flows into a ring-fenced Grain Fund that pays farmers in cash, dries and grades their crop to East African standards, and sells it to regional buyers who pay a premium for clean, aflatoxin-tested grain.
Trading desk, refining partnerships and secure logistics, under Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development oversight.
Buying centres in Uganda's grain belts, from West Nile to the Eastern maize belt, funded by gold margins and selling to South Sudan, the DRC, Kenya and Rwanda.
Licensed artisanal zones and cooperative networks. Every lot is assayed, valued and certified by CEEC before it crosses a border.
Assayed, documented and prepared to specification. Minimum volumes apply, and all material carries full chain-of-custody records.
99.9%+ fine bars from a licensed Ugandan refinery, serial-numbered and sealed with assay certificate. Export grade.
Unrefined gold from verified artisanal and small-scale sources, supplied only to licensed refiners in Uganda for refining before export.
Consolidated lots with independent laboratory certificates of weight and fineness, ready for supervised shipment.
Proceeds from the gold desk give AfriShield Grains the one thing Uganda's cereal trade is short of: patient, year-round working capital.
Uganda harvests twice a year, roughly June to August and November to January. At harvest, farmers need cash fast and prices fall; a few months later, prices recover and regional buyers compete for clean grain. Most traders cannot afford to buy at harvest and hold.
Gold trading produces cash all year round. We move a fixed share of net gold trading margin into a ring-fenced Grain Fund with its own bank accounts and books. That fund buys at harvest, pays for drying, cleaning and storage, and is repaid when the grain is sold. Profits roll into the next season, so the grain book grows each year.
Because the money comes from a regulated, KYC-screened gold business, every shilling in the Grain Fund has a documented source, which matters to banks, warehouse operators and institutional buyers.
Licensed gold trades between Uganda, the DRC and UAE refiners generate year-round cash.
A fixed share of margin goes into a ring-fenced fund with separate accounts and audit.
Cash or mobile-money payment to farmer groups and aggregators at harvest, by weight and grade.
Dried to EAS moisture limits, cleaned, aflatoxin-tested and held in licensed warehouses.
Sold to millers, traders and relief buyers. The fund is repaid and profit rolls into next season.
Bagged in 50 kg or 90 kg bags, or loose by the truckload.
Uganda's main cereal and the region's most traded staple. Our core line for millers in Kenya, South Sudan, the DRC and Rwanda.
Toll-milled maize flour (posho) for South Sudan and DRC markets, plus feed-grade maize and bran for Uganda's growing poultry, pig and dairy feed millers.
Red and white sorghum from Teso, Lango, Acholi and West Nile, for brewers' local sourcing programmes, food processors and relief-food buyers.
Local paddy from Eastern schemes such as Doho in Butaleja and upland growers in the north, milled and graded to compete with rice imported from Tanzania and Pakistan.
A traditional staple in northern and eastern Uganda and South Sudan, in demand for flour, porridge and brewing.
Forward contracts for millers and institutions that want a fixed price and steady deliveries between harvests, backed by stock in licensed warehouses.
Buying centres in Uganda's main grain belts.
Uganda is the region's breadbasket. Most of its surplus moves by road to neighbours that cannot grow enough to feed themselves.
Ranked by priority for AfriShield Grains.
Long the largest buyer of Ugandan maize, with steady demand for grain and maize flour from Juba's traders, schools and humanitarian agencies.
Now Uganda's biggest regional export market. Eastern DRC's towns depend on Ugandan maize and flour, and our gold network already works there.
The region's largest maize deficit market. Kenya's millers buy Ugandan maize but insist on dry, aflatoxin-tested grain, which is exactly what our grading protects.
Rwanda relies heavily on Ugandan maize to fill its deficit, and Burundi is reached through the same corridor.
Feed millers serving fast-growing poultry, pig and dairy farms, brewers expanding local sourcing of sorghum, and schools and institutions.
AfCFTA and COMESA rules open buyers further afield, and Kenya-Uganda trade missions are working to remove the barriers at the border.
The institutions and companies that shape the market.
Companies and institutions above are named to describe the market. AfriShield Gold Ltd is a hypothetical company and does not claim any relationship with them. Further reading: Grain Council on ungraded exports · EAGC Kenya-Uganda trade mission · Kenya on aflatoxin-free Ugandan maize · UBL local sourcing · East Africa food price report, July 2025
We buy from three kinds of licensed operation, from giant open-pit mines that move rock with 400-tonne trucks to small cooperatives working by hand. Every one is verified before we buy a gram.
A LeTourneau L-1850 loader fills a Caterpillar 793C haul truck with gold ore at the Super Pit, Kalgoorlie. Trucks like this carry a full load of rock up and out of the pit every few minutes, around the clock.
Industrial mines with shovels, haul trucks and processing plants. We buy doré or refined gold through formal offtake agreements with licensed operators.
Locally owned operations with a valid mining licence, smaller excavators and simple processing. Site visits and production records on file.
Registered cooperatives in validated, conflict-free zones. We pay fair, documented prices and support safer, mercury-free practices.
Photos are real mines and machines shown to illustrate the industry; they are not AfriShield sites. Credits (Wikimedia Commons): Geomartin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rr2000, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lechhabmed, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0 · René Engel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gordon Greenall, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dionisius Purba, CC BY 2.0 · Calistemon, CC BY-SA 4.0
A presence along the gold-producing and grain-trading corridors of the Great Lakes region.
Headquarters, gold desk and Grain Fund treasury in Kampala. Grain buying centres in West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Bunyoro, Teso and the Eastern maize belt.
Gold sourced from validated zones and licensed cooperatives under the DRC Mining Code, CEEC and ICGLR rules. Eastern DRC is also a major buyer of our maize and flour.
Gold: supervised refiners in the UAE (Dubai). Grain: millers, traders and relief buyers in South Sudan, the DRC, Kenya and Rwanda, by road through official border posts.
Every transaction is structured so a Dubai refiner, a Kenyan miller or a relief agency can complete their own due diligence without gaps.
The five-step framework, applied to every source: management systems, risk assessment, risk mitigation, independent audit and public reporting.
Licensed dealing only, Mining Cadastre registration, a permit for every import and export consignment, and refining to 99.9% before export.
DRC lots are assayed, valued and certified by CEEC and carry the ICGLR regional certificate required for legitimate Great Lakes trade.
Aligned with the UAE Ministry of Economy's Due Diligence Regulations for Responsible Sourcing of Gold, which apply to every gold source entering the Emirates.
Documentation structured to support LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance and the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation.
No sourcing from areas under armed-group control. Ongoing screening against UN, OFAC and other relevant sanctions lists.
Maize graded to EAS 2: moisture at or below 13.5%, total aflatoxin at or below 10 ppb, and limits on broken, rotten and foreign matter. Every lot is tested before it is loaded.
MAAIF phytosanitary certificate, EAC or COMESA certificate of origin, and customs entry for every grain consignment. No informal border crossings.
Grain is stored in UWRSA-licensed warehouses. The Grain Fund is ring-fenced from the gold desk, audited separately, and covered by the same AML controls.
From mine or farm to certified export, every step is documented and verifiable.
Licensed mines and registered cooperatives in validated zones. Site visits and risk assessments on file.
Buy only from licence holders. DRC lots enter Uganda with a DRC export permit, CEEC certificate and a Ugandan import permit.
Independent assay, royalty payment, then refining to 99.9% at a licensed Ugandan refinery.
Export permit and certificate of analysis per consignment. Insured, tracked transport with the full due diligence file.
Registered farmer groups and aggregators paid in cash or mobile money, by weight and moisture reading, on the day.
Grain dried to 13.5% moisture or below, then cleaned and sorted at our buying centres.
Lab-tested for aflatoxin, graded to EAS standards, bagged and lodged in a licensed warehouse.
Phytosanitary and origin certificates, then delivery through official border posts with a quality report for each truck.
The registrations, licences and permits a legitimate gold trader in Uganda must hold, plus our supply chain policy. These documents are confidential academic samples, not valid official registrations, licences or permits.
Forged gold licences and export papers are a common tool in gold scams across the region. Before any gold deal:
Quick answers about our gold desk, our grain division and how we work.
AfriShield Gold Ltd is a hypothetical company created for a Makerere business class assignment. It models a Kampala-based business that trades documented gold from Uganda and the DRC and uses part of its gold trading margin to finance a cereal trading division, AfriShield Grains.
A fixed share of net gold trading margin goes into a ring-fenced Grain Fund with its own accounts. The fund pays farmers at harvest, covers drying, grading and storage, and is repaid when the grain is sold, so profits roll into the next season.
White maize graded to EAS 2, maize flour and feed maize, red and white sorghum, milled rice and finger millet, bagged in 50 kg or 90 kg bags or loose by the truckload.
South Sudan and the DR Congo are the first priority, followed by Kenya, then Rwanda and Burundi. Grain moves by road through official border posts such as Elegu, Goli, Vurra, Mpondwe, Busia, Malaba and Katuna.
Maize is graded to the East African standard EAS 2: moisture at or below 13.5% and total aflatoxin at or below 10 ppb, with every lot tested before loading. Each consignment carries a MAAIF phytosanitary certificate and a certificate of origin.
From buying centres in West Nile (Nebbi and Arua), Acholi and Lango (Gulu and Lira), Bunyoro (Masindi and Kiryandongo), the Eastern maize belt (Mbale, Kapchorwa and Tororo), Teso, and the Butaleja rice schemes.
Check the dealer's licence on Uganda's Mining Cadastre and Registry System or with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, confirm the company on the URSB registry, insist on an independent assay, and never pay release or clearance fees to strangers.
We work with licensed refiners, millers, grain buyers, farmer groups and established trading houses. Please provide full company details.
Gold trading between Uganda, the DRC and the UAE, and gold-financed cereal supply across East and Central Africa. All inquiries are subject to KYC and source verification.