Sudan’s gold trade fuels war—and slips through state Control

Sudan’s civil war is being bankrolled not by oil, but by gold — and nearly all of it flows through the United Arab Emirates.

Since the 2013 secession of South Sudan, which took most of the oilfields with it, gold has eclipsed fuel as the lifeblood of Sudan’s power elite. 

But unlike hydrocarbons, gold—especially when mined artisanally—is far harder to control. That makes it the perfect resource for warlords and factions operating outside formal state systems.

“Elites have sought to build their patronage system on gold,” said Ahmed Soliman, author of Gold and the War in Sudan (Chatham House, March 2025). “But unlike oil, which could be easily channelled into military coffers, gold is a much more difficult commodity to control.”

In 2024, Sudan reported a record 64 tonnes of gold production, generating $1.57 billion in legal exports—90% of which went to the UAE. 

But officials estimate nearly half of total output is smuggled, mostly through Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan before landing in Dubai.

Both government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) profit. In army-held territory, the Kush mine — owned by Dubai-based Emiral Resources — churns out hundreds of kilograms monthly. 

Meanwhile, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo reportedly operates a sprawling gold empire through his family’s sanctioned firm Al-Junaid, allegedly generating $1 billion annually to fund his militia.

Sudan has filed a case at the International Court of Justice accusing the UAE of complicity in RSF-led atrocities. Abu Dhabi calls the case a “publicity stunt” and denies profiting from Sudanese gold.

But watchdogs like Swissaid say the UAE is turning a blind eye. Imports from Chad — a country with minimal gold production — have more than doubled, suggesting large-scale smuggling from Sudan. “If the UAE truly enforced its due diligence regulations,” said Swissaid’s Marc Ummel, “most of these refineries would be shut down.”

As Sudan’s war drags on, gold continues to fund both sides — elusive, untraceable, and increasingly central to a conflict no longer just fought on the battlefield, but in the shadow markets of the Gulf.