Watan-While villages are being bombed, families displaced, and acts of genocide and starvation committed against civilians, looted gold from Sudan flows quietly into the coffers of the United Arab Emirates, which has long worked to fuel the country’s civil war in service of its aggressive agendas.
According to multiple sources, billions of dollars worth of stolen minerals—especially gold—are being smuggled out of Sudan, with most of it ending up in the UAE. This trade finances warlords and fuels the ongoing conflict.
Sudan officially earned $1.57 billion from gold exports last year, according to the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company. But that’s only half the story—the other half is smuggled and unregulated.
Gold Fuels Sudan’s War as UAE Emerges Key Player
Mines controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia are operating at full capacity in conflict-ridden southwestern Sudan, near the borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic, in pursuit of profits that sustain the war and fund arms purchases.
Smuggled gold trade underlines the UAE’s central role in Sudan’s war, with Abu Dhabi reportedly absorbing nearly all of Sudan’s gold production, according to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
AFP stated that Sudan’s gold industry has become the lifeline of the ongoing war, with nearly all gold trade said to pass through the UAE. This enriches both the army and the RSF, according to various sources.
Despite two years of devastating war that has crippled Sudan’s economy, the military-backed government announced a record gold production figure for 2024 just last month.
Sudanese economist Abdel Azim Al-Amawi said, “The demand for Sudan’s vast gold reserves is a key factor prolonging the war.”
Marc Ummel, a researcher with SwissAid—a development group tracking gold smuggling from Africa to Gulf states—stated, “To solve the war in Sudan, we must follow the gold trail, and it leads to the UAE.”
According to Sudanese officials, mining sector sources, and SwissAid research, nearly all of Sudan’s gold heads to the UAE—whether through official trade, smuggling, or direct Emirati ownership of the country’s most profitable mines.
In February, Sudan’s state-run Mineral Resources Company reported that gold production had reached 64 tons in 2024, up from 41.8 tons in 2022. Legal exports brought in $1.57 billion to the country’s battered treasury, according to central bank figures.
Smuggled Gold Links Sudan’s War to UAE
However, company director Mohammed Taher, speaking from Port Sudan, stated, “About half of the country’s production is smuggled across the borders.”
The gold mines controlled by the RSF militia lie nearly 2,000 kilometers from Port Sudan, along the borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
According to mining sources and experts, a large portion of the gold produced by both sides in the conflict is smuggled through Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt before eventually reaching the UAE.
This month, Sudan filed a case with the International Court of Justice accusing the UAE of complicity in genocide committed by the RSF in Darfur.
Abu Dhabi, which has repeatedly denied supplying the RSF with weapons, dismissed the case as a “publicity stunt” and stated it would seek to have it thrown out.
Nevertheless, the UAE plays a central role in Sudan’s wartime “gold rush,” indirectly contributing to the funding of military efforts.
According to Mohammed Taher, 90% of Sudan’s legal gold exports go to the UAE, although the government has begun exploring alternatives such as Qatar and Turkey.
At the heart of army-held territory, between Port Sudan and Khartoum, lies the Kush mine, considered the crown jewel of Sudan’s official gold industry.
Gold Mine Resumes Output Under Russian-UAE Control Amid War
Although it was evacuated at the start of the war, it has resumed operations and now produces hundreds of kilograms monthly, according to an engineer at the facility. The site was built by Russia and is owned by “Emiral Resources,” a Dubai-based company.
Emiral lists the Kush mine on its website as one of its assets, along with a subsidiary called “Alliance for Mining,” which it describes as Sudan’s largest industrial gold producer.
A gold sector source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, stated that the mine was purchased in 2020 by an Emirati investor who agreed to keep the Russian management in place.
According to data from the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange, the UAE became the world’s second-largest gold exporter in 2023, surpassing the UK. It is also the top destination for smuggled African gold.
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