The Role of Gold in the Sudanese War

Apr 30, 2025 | Sara de Simone
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When the civil war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, gold soon became pivotal in analyses of the conflict, both as a means of waging the war and as one of its causes. The role of the UAE and (especially at an early stage of the war) of the Russian Wagner Group, has been well established by both field reports and global gold trade tracking mechanisms, but gold has been important in Sudan’s political economy for at least the last 25 years. While a range of natural resources — including land, livestock, minerals and gum — are entangled in the dynamics of Sudan’s war, gold stands out as a particularly critical asset: its high value, portability, and role in financing both local armed actors and external sponsors make it central to sustaining and shaping the current conflict. A better understanding of the gold mining sector’s management and development can therefore help to shed light on the extreme complexity of the current war dynamics, as well as on the stakes involved in controlling this important resource.