Sudan’s Gold: A Lost Wealth and the Chaos of Artisanal Mining
Dr Ismail Satti
After the state allowed individuals to engage in gold prospecting—on the assumption that this would act as a lever for the national economy and compensate for the loss of oil revenues, most of which went to the South after secession—the decision appeared to be a rapid response to an acute crisis. However, an experience spanning more than a decade, from 2012 to 2025, has demonstrated, with hard figures, that leaving prospecting and production completely unregulated was not a sound economic choice.
The hard numbers (2012–2025)
Data from the gold sector show that official production and exports do not reflect the true volume of gold extracted and exploited within the country, proving that leaving the sector unregulated has exacerbated corruption and smuggling:
2012: Production of 40 tonnes; export value approximately USD 2.158 billion.
2013–2014: Production rose to 70 and 73.4 tonnes, respectively, with fluctuating revenues, marking the beginning of mining expansion.
2017: Production reached an approximate peak of 107.3 tonnes, but official export values did not reflect total output.
2018–2021: Volatile production—93.5 tonnes in 2018 and 49.7 tonnes in 2021—with returns below true potential.
2022: Production of 41.8 tonnes, with exports valued at USD 2.02 billion (46.3% of non-oil exports).
2023: Official production fell to 23.1 tonnes due to security deterioration.
2024: Production rebounded to around 64 tonnes despite the war, with notable revenues.
2025: Official production of about 70 tonnes, valued at USD 1.8 billion, making gold the most important source of foreign currency.
What these figures reveal:
The gap between official and actual production—combined with smuggling and gold produced by armed militias—is at times estimated at more than 50–70% of annual output. This deprives the state of billions of dollars and weakens gold’s economic impact on citizens.
The chaos of artisanal mining: a strategic perspective
Gold is not a resource that can be left to haphazard management; it is a vital strategic asset. The figures clearly show that allowing its production and export to proceed without regulation—under a “free-for-all” mindset—has led to a manifest failure to achieve any tangible economic benefit for the state. Relying on this approach is a mistake that should not be repeated.
Although gold has become the primary source of foreign exchange, the economy has not improved in proportion to the massive volume of production. The currency has continued to depreciate, inflation has risen, and living standards have declined. This demonstrates that the abundance of a resource does not necessarily translate into abundant returns if governance and state authority are absent.
The imperative of restoring state control
The experience of recent years confirms that:
Liberalising prospecting to the general public without strict controls has weakened the state rather than strengthened it.
The proliferation of small-scale, informal producers has made oversight almost impossible and opened the door wide to smuggling and corruption.
Gold is a sovereign resource that cannot tolerate chaotic management, as any loss of control immediately affects the macro-economy.
The right path: institutions and transparency
A serious remedy requires:
Removing prospecting and production from individual chaos and reorganising them under state oversight.
Limiting prospecting and production to specialised international and local companies with technical capacity and financial strength, operating under transparent contracts.
Enforcing strict oversight across the entire value chain—from extraction to processing to export—to ensure that every gram of gold enters official channels.
Applying severe penalties for smuggling or illegal exploitation.
Gold can be a genuine lever for overcoming the crisis, but it will not be so unless its management shifts from chaos to institutional order, from randomness to planning, and from depletion to investment. Only then can it move from being a lost wealth to a true instrument of economic recovery—one whose impact citizens can feel, and whose returns the state can see in strengthened revenues, enhanced financial stability, and the empowerment of sustainable development programmes.
At that point, gold will become an active component in building the national economy—not merely a figure on paper or a smuggled fortune benefiting a few at the expense of the people—protecting national wealth and serving the citizen, and no one else, particularly not any party hostile to the state.
Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=10514