UK Sanctions Sudan's Gold Trade to Cut War Funding

The UK has imposed sanctions on 11 individuals and companies accused of profiting from Sudan’s illicit gold trade, in a bid to cut off a key source of funding for the country’s civil war. The measures target businesses and individuals linked to both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the military factions fighting in the conflict.

The sanctions include three state-owned mining companies and firms based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. According to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Sudan’s gold industry has become the engine of the war economy, with billions of dollars’ worth of gold smuggled out of the country every year to fund weapons purchases and military operations.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that the people of Sudan continue to pay the price for a war fueled not only by guns and fighters, but by illicit flows of gold and finance to fill the war chests on both sides. She emphasized that the sanctions are targeting Sudan’s war economy and will shine a light on those who seek to profit from these illegal shadow networks.

Among those sanctioned is Abu Dharr Abdul Nabi Habiballa Ahmmed, who the UK describes as an RSF financier who used a network of companies in Dubai to fund the paramilitary group. UAE-based firms allegedly involved in RSF procurement are also included, and three Sudanese state-owned mining companies accused of generating gold revenues for the SAF.

The UK has also warned that the strategic city of El Obeid is at risk of becoming another El Fasher, and called for the United Nations arms embargo on Sudan to be extended beyond Darfur. El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, has endured months of siege and humanitarian hardship, with advancing RSF forces encircling the city and cutting off supply routes while launching repeated drone attacks on fuel, infrastructure, and storage sites.

Ms Cooper expressed her deep fear that the Sudanese city is at risk of mass bloodshed and civilian casualties, drawing parallels with the unspeakable violence and suffering in El Fasher last year, which the UN’s fact-finding mission concluded bore the hallmarks of genocide.