More than 200 people have been killed and thousands more are trying to flee the country after five days of fighting. Among all the factors that contribute to internal tensions, there is one key element: one of the largest gold reserves in Africa.
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In conflicts, money is the sinews of war. In Sudan, it is gold that finances the army of General Abdel Farrah al-Burhane and the forces of his rival, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”. The precious metal is the country’s primary source of currency, which benefits both sides, explains Antoine Galindo of the Afrique Intelligence news site: “Gold in Sudan is something very opaque, it attracts a lot of covetousness. There are several actors, and not only Hemedti, who are involved. As far as the military-industrial complex is concerned, it is done with the benevolence of the army”.
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In 2022, Sudan achieved exports of nearly $2.5 billion, corresponding to the sale of approximately 42 tons of gold. The country has one of the largest gold reserves on the African continent. A treasure that arouses the greed of the two generals who compete for power in Khartoum. The clashes between the two camps have killed nearly 300 people since Saturday April 15 and pushed thousands of civilians on the road to exile.
From “artisanal gold panning” without any control
The deposits are found in the northeast and center of the country, but also in the Darfur region. Here, the mines are not operated by large international companies, adds Antoine Galindo: “In Sudan, the gold business, the extraction of gold, is mainly artisanal gold panning, which makes the control of the activity quite complicated. A priori, a lot of the gold extracted in Sudan leaves the territory without going through any form of taxation or government filters”.
To leave the country, gold takes paths as discreet as they are varied via Khartoum airport, Port-Sudan, on the Red Sea, or via the land border with the Central African Republic. The precious metal is then found in Dubai, the world hub of the gold trade, but also in Moscow, in the coffers of the Kremlin and that of the Wagner militia present in Sudan.
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