Sudan produced a record 64 tonnes of gold in 2024, generating about $1.57bn in official exports. However, independent estimates suggest true production to be around 80 tonnes a year, worth over $6bn. To sustain such numbers, some reports cite reserves of up to 1,550 tonnes. [1] [2]
The stark gap between official revenue and potential value raises the question: where is the rest of Sudan’s gold wealth really going?
Unfortunately, Sudan’s tragedy is not unique — it’s the same post-colonial nightmare being replayed; we have seen it before in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen — chaos created to control resources. Oil before, gold now.
So Sudan is not an exception — it’s a symptom of a system designed to keep nations weak and divided. Foreign greed, local power struggles, and global silence. Sudan is simply the latest victim of this repeating cycle.
Colonial playbook is all too familiar
| 1 | Players | America, Britain, Russia |
| 2 | Proxies | Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia — who some argue do their dirty work |
| 3 | Hired guns | RSF (Rapid Support Forces), SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces), Colombian/Wagner mercenaries |
| 4 | Prize | Gold, minerals, ports, strategic waterways, farmland |
| 5 | Victims | Muslim and non-Muslim Sudanese men, women, and children |
| 6 | Winners | Russia, America, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE |
| 7 | Losers | Sudan, the Ummah at large |
BACKGROUND
- What is happening in Sudan is the latest in the world of colonialism, with people being made to suffer while their wealth is robbed
- The two sides most mentioned are the country's army (SAF) and paramilitary (RSF), but Western states have a clear hand in shaping the genocide
- Everything that has already happened, including the recent taking of al-Fashir, is in line with the direction laid out by the group of states referred to as 'the Quartet' (the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt)
- The above states, along with Russia and the UK, are each playing their part in this disaster, either as colonial players or proxies
Players
All roads still lead back to the colonialists.
When they left their colonies, they didn’t really leave — they just changed tactics. They left behind proxy agents, border disputes, loyal factions, and deepened ethnic and religious divisions — financed and protected under the banner of “strategic national interests”.
The same old hands that once carved up Sudan before are back again to carve it up yet further — this time in a new scramble for Africa. America and Britain preach “democracy” but really seek stability and control of the Red Sea routes. Meanwhile, Russia wants Sudan’s gold and a naval base on the Red Sea, in Port Sudan.
Each colonial power props up its own chosen faction — through aid, arms, and diplomacy — while Sudan bleeds.
Proxies
The US channels its influence through what it calls the “Sudan Quartet” — itself, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE. But behind the talk of diplomacy lies a network of Arab regimes doing the West’s dirty work. [3]
Egypt
The country strategically supports the SAF in order to protect its Nile water rights, border security, and regional influence.
UAE
They are perhaps the most ruthless of the Arab regimes that support the Zionist state.
Abu Dhabi backs Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — better known as حميدتي (Hemedti), the Butcher of Darfur — and his RSF in pursuit of Sudan’s gold, trade routes into sub-Saharan Africa, Red Sea security, food supply lines, and commercial dominance. [4]
Official data shows nearly 90 per cent of Sudan’s gold exports in early 2025 went to the UAE — both legal and illicit. This makes the UAE Sudan’s biggest buyer of gold. That gold money is what fuels the RSF’s war machine. [5]
Saudi Arabia
The largest Arab state by GDP, it is argued that Saudi Arabia plays both sides by publicly “mediating” and privately providing political, financial, and logistical backing that empowers paramilitaries.
Its real aim is to secure stability for its Red Sea mega-projects and protect its investment corridors.
There are other proxies, but together these three states act as middlemen for Western and global powers, turning Sudan into yet another proxy battlefield — where Arab hands serve colonial interests while Sudanese lives are lost.
Hired guns
The RSF, SAF, and the foreign mercenaries — from Colombian fighters to Russian Wagner contractors — are the hands that do the killing. They fight the so-called Quartet’s war while keeping the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Russia, the US, and the UK a safe distance from direct blame. [6] [7]
Funding, arms, and logistics flow through shell companies, third parties, and friendly states — the same covert playbook used during Gaza’s genocide.
RSF
It is a paramilitary force rooted in the s0-called Janjaweed militias of recent times. It controls major gold-producing areas, using revenues to arm and expand its operations.
SAF
Led by General Burhan and backed by Egypt, the country’s armed forces control air assets and state institutions.
As is well known, the RSF and SAF were once allies, now they are enemies committing war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and mass civilian killings, all while the world watches.
The prize
What are they really fighting for? The same reason colonial powers invaded and the same reason the slave trade thrived: resources and profit.
Sudan holds some of Africa’s richest gold reserves. These are now largely controlled by the RSF and funnelled through Emirati and Russian networks. Strategic ports is another big prize; Red Sea ports are coveted by the US, Russia, and Gulf states for trade routes and military access. And in terms of land and agriculture? Vast farmland is leased or sold to foreign investors, leaving Sudanese people impoverished while outsiders reap the profits.
Brothers and sisters, Sudan, like all former colonies before, is being stripped of its wealth.
The winners
It should come as no surprise: the real winners of Sudan’s bloodshed are the colonial powers and their proxies.
- America and Britain protect their naval routes, strategic access, and regional influence.
- The UAE and Saudi Arabia expand their gold holdings, control trade logistics, and dominate the Red Sea corridor.
- Russia secures gold exports and pushes for a naval foothold.
- Egypt retains its influence in the region and use of the Nile.
Everyone profits, except…
The losers
Recent reports have documented the RSF’s takeover of al-Fashir, with mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and entire villages wiped out. Independent monitors such as the UN, HRW, and the OHCHR confirm targeted violence, summary executions, and atrocities. [8] [9] [10]
In the past two years, millions have been and are still being uprooted; cities like Khartoum lie in rubble. Humanitarian access is blocked in many areas, triggering acute malnutrition and deadly epidemics. There is an entire generation that is lost, with orphaned and traumatised youth robbed of any hope for the future.
Amnesty and UN investigations have confirmed that heavy weapons and drones entering Sudan since 2023 have escalated the conflict and intensified civilian suffering. [11]
Sudan and Gaza are symptoms of the same problem
Whether it is Gaza or Sudan, the parallels are undeniable. Both are victims of the same colonial design — where foreign powers, local elites, and proxy regimes work together to crush independent Muslim nations.
If the Ummah is to learn anything, it is this: our instability, wars, and vulnerability are not accidents. They are the direct results of colonialism. The entire Muslim world — from Pakistan to Türkiye, from the Middle East to Africa — is the modern creation of that same colonial project.
Colonial borders, divide-and-rule politics, and elite corruption are bleeding both Africa and the Muslim world.
Allah (jalla jallāluhu) commands:
And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah. And if it returns, then make settlement between them in justice and act justly. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.” [12]
Yet these regimes do the opposite: they fuel the conflict, arm the killers, and aid the oppressors for their own political and financial gain. They are as much the problem as the RSF, as the US, Britain, or Russia.
The Ummah’s liberation requires more than removing RSF militias — it demands the removal of colonial influence and their agent rulers, and the restoration of true leadership that protects its people, resources, and dignity.
What can we do to help?
Whether Gaza or Sudan, inaction and silence is not an option. Du’ā and charity alone are not enough when there are Islamic political actions we can take. Two genocides are unfolding side by side — we must act.
- Expose the agenda: reveal the Western colonial interests and the role of those Arab pro-Zionist rulers behind Sudan’s genocide.
- Share the story: spread this article with family, friends, and colleagues to make the truth easy for everyone to understand.
- Support and pressure: back verified humanitarian channels, pressure governments, and support Sudanese diaspora campaigns.
- Boycott Dubai: call out Muslim rulers that support the Zionist state, starting with Dubai for their complicity in the genocides in Sudan and Gaza
- Work for Muslim Ummah unity: as just mentioned, two genocides are unfolding side by side. Human life lost in immeasurable.
It is my wholehearted view that true protection for Gaza, Sudan, and al-Aqsa requires political unity under the Islamic Khilafah — ensuring governance, representation, and defence of the Muslim people.
Without unity, our vulnerability will only grow. Today it is Gaza and Sudan; tomorrow, only Allah knows who will be next.
Source: Islam21c
Notes
[1] https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/03/gold-and-war-sudan/03-gold-production-and-trade-during-war
[5] https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/03/sudans-booming-wartime-gold-trade-flows-through-uae
[7] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/17/what-is-the-wagner-groups-role-in-sudan
[8] https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/10/1166237
[9] https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/29/sudan-mass-atrocities-in-captured-darfur-city
[11] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2024/07/new-weapons-fuelling-the-sudan-conflict/
[12] al-Qur’ān, 49:9
