Sudan is burning and foreign powers are benefiting β whatβs in it for the UAE.
Gold has been one of the main drivers of the Sudan conflict. It allows both parties to fuel their war machines.
The UAE is the main beneficiary of this trade. It receives nearly all the gold smuggled from Sudan and has become a hub for laundering trafficked gold into the global market. The latest available statistics show that, officially, the UAE imported precious metals from Sudan valued at about US$2.3 billion in 2022.
Additionally, the
UAE imports 90% of its food supply. Since the global food crisis in 2007, the UAE has made food security one of its highest priorities and started investing in farmlands abroad.
In Sudan,
two Emirati firms are farming over 50,000 hectares in the north, with plans for expansion. Agricultural produce is then shipped through the Red Sea. To bypass the port of Sudan, which was run by the Sudanese government, the UAE signed a new deal in 2022 to build a new port on the coast of Sudan to be operated by the Abu Dhabi Ports Group.
The United Arab Emirates is emerging as the foreign player most invested in Sudanβs conflict.
theconversation.com