Looted gold and gum arabic are bankrolling Sudan’s war, UN warns

Sudan's Armed Conflict Sustained by Extracted Resources, UN Observers Caution

Looted gold and gum arabic are bankrolling - The ongoing crisis in Sudan receives financial support from two critical commodities: precious metals and a lesser-known plant extract. While gold has long been recognized as a funding mechanism for various conflicts, gum arabic—an essential ingredient in beverages, personal care products, medicines, and food items—continues to play a significant role in financing the hostilities.

According to a statement released midweek by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, both factions engaged in fighting have systematically appropriated gum arabic supplies and altered commercial pathways. These actions enable them to channel revenues directly into extending the duration of their military engagement.

Sudan's vast wealth of natural resources should benefit its people. Distressingly, what we are seeing today is anything but that. This wealth is only serving to undermine human rights and drive conflict, bringing pain and suffering on an enormous scale.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the OHCHR, emphasized these concerns in her public remarks regarding the situation.

Human Rights Violations Connected to Commodity Commerce

Approximately five million individuals across Sudan derive livelihoods or economic advantages from gum arabic activities. The substance is collected from acacia tree branches and stems within regions experiencing intense fighting, where numerous breaches of international humanitarian standards and human rights protections have been recorded.

Before armed conflict began in April 2023—following the breakdown of Sudan's shift toward democratic governance—the nation supplied between seventy and eighty percent of worldwide crude gum arabic shipments. Yearly commercial value reached $183 million, establishing the commodity as highly valuable. The Rapid Support Forces militia, a paramilitary organization, reportedly seized substantial quantities from El-Nuhud, located in West Kordofan province, subsequently moving shipments toward Darfur and Chad during May 2025.

Despite ongoing warfare and documented human rights concerns raised by UN observers, Sudan maintains considerable presence in international gum arabic markets.

This war economy must be disrupted, and the international community must pay much closer attention to the commodities and trade routes that help keep it alive.

Disrupted Trade Corridors and Emerging Routes

A recently published OHCHR document reveals that numerous Sudanese citizens connected to gum arabic commerce have encountered intimidation, unlawful imprisonment, theft, and forced payments from combatants and their associates. Merchants utilizing passages through RSF-controlled territories in western and central Sudan experience property seizures, unofficial levies, and general instability.

Conversely, traders navigating northern and eastern corridors toward Port Sudan and the Northern state encounter multiple inspection points, both official and unofficial fees, alongside instances of cross-border smuggling activities.

Historically, production centered within what experts call the "gum belt"—encompassing Kordofan and Darfur regions plus Blue Nile, White Nile, Sennar, and Gedaref states. Small-scale farmers and semi-nomadic communities depended on seasonal harvesting as supplementary income during agricultural off-periods.

The UN report indicates that RSF forces have redirected considerable volumes toward Souq al-Na'am, a demilitarized boundary zone between Sudan and South Sudan, before continuing shipments to Juba and eventually reaching Mombasa harbor in Kenya. Additional pathways have developed connecting to Chad and extending toward Douala port in Cameroon, where products receive new labels prior to international distribution.

Security Council-appointed specialists previously recorded that RSF fighters received gum arabic as compensation instead of regular wages, with minimum 3,700 tonnes appropriated between January and June 2024 alone.

Gold: Another Critical Revenue Stream

Beyond plant-based commodities, precious metal transactions represent substantial financial inflows for both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF paramilitary group, according to OHCHR analysts.

Official records show that SAF-controlled territories produced approximately 65 tonnes of gold during 2024. Of this total, roughly 28 tonnes passed through Port Sudan with documented commercial value reaching $1.6 billion—constituting nearly forty-eight and a half percent of all Sudanese export earnings that year.

Nevertheless, multiple sources and governmental declarations suggest that almost forty-eight percent of the nation's 2024 gold harvest bypassed official channels and entered international markets through smuggling operations. While comprehensive production statistics remain unavailable for RSF-administered zones, the combined impact of both commodities on sustaining military operations cannot be overstated.