The two-year conflict has decimated Sudan’s economy, yet last month the army-backed government announced record gold production last year.
Demand for the country’s vast gold reserves “was a key factor in prolonging the war,” Sudanese economist Al-Abedine Adam told Al Jazeera.
“To solve the war in Sudan, we have to follow the gold, and we arrive at the UAE,” said the Emirati researcher in a statement to AFP, a UAE official rejected “any baseless and unfounded allegation regarding the smuggling or grading of gold.”
But according to Sudanese officials, industry sources and western research, most of Sudan’s gold outflows to the UAE, via official trade routes, smuggling and direct Emirati owner-ship of the governments-currently most lucrative mines.
Last month, the state-owned Sudan Mineral Resources Company said gold production totalled 64.2 tons in 2023, up from 41.8 tons in 2022. Legal exports brought in billions into the state’s depleted coffers, central bank figures show. But “nearly half of the states production is smuggled across borders,” SMRC director Mohammed Taher said from Port Sudan.
Nearly 2,000km away, on Sudan’s borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic, lie the mines controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Much of the gold produced by the RSF is smuggled to Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, before reaching the UAE, according to mining industry sources and experts.
The UAE continues to deal with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing the UAE of complicity in gen-ocide committed by the RSF in Darfur. The UN panel of experts last year called for the RSF’s source of funding to be cut off, and said it would seek to have it thrown out.
However, the UAE has also played a major role in the government’s wartime gold rush, indirectly helping to fund its war efforts.
According to Taher, 90% of the exports of gold go to the UAE, although the government is eye-ing alternatives, including Qatar and Turkey.
In the heart of army territory, halfway between Port Sudan and Khartoum, Sudan’s richest mine is the centrepiece of the government’s gold industry. Evacuated when the war began, it is now producing thousands of kilogrammes a month, according to an engineer at the Russian-built facility, owned by Dubai-based Emirati Resources.
On its website, Emirati lists Kush as one of its holdings, alongside subsidi-ary Alliance for Mining, which it says is the largest industrial gold producer in Sudan”. According to a gold industry source, who spoke on condition of anon-ymity for his safety, in 2020 the mine “was bought by an Emirati investor who agreed to keep Russian manage-ment on”.
According to data from Dubai’s com-modities exchange, the UAE became the world’s second-largest gold exporter in 2022, overtaking Germany. It is also the leading destination for smuggled African gold, according to SwissAidi.
Abu Dhab...
Demand for the country’s vast gold reserves “was a key factor in prolonging the war,” Sudanese economist Al-Abedine Adam told Al Jazeera.
“To solve the war in Sudan, we have to follow the gold, and we arrive at the UAE,” said the Emirati researcher in a statement to AFP, a UAE official rejected “any baseless and unfounded allegation regarding the smuggling or grading of gold.”
But according to Sudanese officials, industry sources and western research, most of Sudan’s gold outflows to the UAE, via official trade routes, smuggling and direct Emirati owner-ship of the governments-currently most lucrative mines.
Last month, the state-owned Sudan Mineral Resources Company said gold production totalled 64.2 tons in 2023, up from 41.8 tons in 2022. Legal exports brought in billions into the state’s depleted coffers, central bank figures show. But “nearly half of the states production is smuggled across borders,” SMRC director Mohammed Taher said from Port Sudan.
Nearly 2,000km away, on Sudan’s borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic, lie the mines controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Much of the gold produced by the RSF is smuggled to Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, before reaching the UAE, according to mining industry sources and experts.
The UAE continues to deal with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing the UAE of complicity in gen-ocide committed by the RSF in Darfur. The UN panel of experts last year called for the RSF’s source of funding to be cut off, and said it would seek to have it thrown out.
However, the UAE has also played a major role in the government’s wartime gold rush, indirectly helping to fund its war efforts.
According to Taher, 90% of the exports of gold go to the UAE, although the government is eye-ing alternatives, including Qatar and Turkey.
In the heart of army territory, halfway between Port Sudan and Khartoum, Sudan’s richest mine is the centrepiece of the government’s gold industry. Evacuated when the war began, it is now producing thousands of kilogrammes a month, according to an engineer at the Russian-built facility, owned by Dubai-based Emirati Resources.
On its website, Emirati lists Kush as one of its holdings, alongside subsidi-ary Alliance for Mining, which it says is the largest industrial gold producer in Sudan”. According to a gold industry source, who spoke on condition of anon-ymity for his safety, in 2020 the mine “was bought by an Emirati investor who agreed to keep Russian manage-ment on”.
According to data from Dubai’s com-modities exchange, the UAE became the world’s second-largest gold exporter in 2022, overtaking Germany. It is also the leading destination for smuggled African gold, according to SwissAidi.
Abu Dhab...
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The Mercury (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 28, 2025