UK unveils sanctions against Sudan gold networks

Britain on Thursday, July 16, imposed sanctions on 11 individuals and entities accused of financing Sudan’s civil war through illicit gold trading and financial networks, saying the measures are intended to disrupt funding for both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Sudan’s multi-billion-dollar gold trade has been used to finance weapons purchases, military operations and the activities of armed groups involved in the conflict.

The sanctions target Sudanese nationals and companies alleged to be linked to financial and commercial networks supporting both warring factions. According to the FCDO, the sanctioned individuals and businesses operate internationally, including in major gold trading hubs such as Dubai and Hong Kong.

Among those sanctioned is Sudanese national Abu Dharr, whom British authorities accused of financing the RSF through “a web of real estate, conflict gold and holding companies based in Dubai.” The sanctions also cover three Sudanese companies based in the United Arab Emirates and one Sudanese firm operating in Hong Kong.

Britain further sanctioned two state-owned Sudanese mining companies accused of generating gold revenues for the Sudanese Armed Forces. A third state-owned company, Ariab Mining Company, was also designated over allegations that it was “channelling revenue from conflict gold to both the SAF and RSF.”

Announcing the measures, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said illicit financial flows were helping sustain the conflict. “The people of Sudan continue to pay the price for a war fuelled not only by guns and fighters, but by illicit flows of gold and finance to fill the war chests on both sides,” Cooper said.

Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country by land area, remains one of the continent’s leading gold producers. The state-owned Sudanese Mineral Resources Company reported a five-year production high of 70 tonnes of gold in 2025. The sanctions come a day after the United Nations warned that both the SAF and the RSF were profiting from control of Sudan’s natural resources, saying a “war economy” had emerged that continues to sustain the conflict.

Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces erupted in April 2023 following a power struggle between the country’s military leadership. The conflict has since killed an estimated 200,000 people, according to some estimates, and displaced more than 11 million others, creating one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

Britain has previously imposed sanctions on senior RSF commanders, who have also been sanctioned by the European Union. The RSF has repeatedly been accused of acting as a proxy force for the United Arab Emirates, allegations the UAE has consistently denied despite evidence cited in several international reports.

The latest British action follows additional measures announced by the European Council on Tuesday aimed at restricting the financial resources available to the warring parties. In measures intended to “curb sources of financing for the conflict,” the Council said it would prohibit “the purchase, import or transfer of gold originating in Sudan.”