[Economics]'How gold became a "curse" for Sudan and what does it have to do with the clashes that have left (more than 180) civilians dead''

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Sudan, a sprawling country in eastern Africa, experienced a turbulent weekend that left more than 180 dead and at least 1,100 injured.

According to different international organizations, the deaths occurred as a result of clashes between members of the army and the paramilitary militias known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF, for its acronym in English).

So far most of the attacks between the two sides have taken place in the country's capital, Khartoum.

But this confrontation on the ground is the result of a long chain of events, tensions, crises and political struggles that have not allowed the country to stabilize since the fall of the Omar al Bashir regime in April 2019.

Among the reasons for the resurgence of violence is the lack of dialogue between the two main military leaders who remained in charge of the country to lead the nation towards a civil democracy: Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF and better known as Hemedti, and Abdel Fattah. al Burhan, head of the army and president of the country.

But among all the factors that contribute to the internal tension in Sudan, there is a key element: the African country has one of the largest gold reserves on the continent.

Only in 2022, and according to the government, Sudan achieved exports close to US$2.5 billion, corresponding to the sale of 41.8 tons of gold.

Most of the country's most profitable mines are controlled by Hemedti and RSF militias, which finance their operations by selling the precious metal not only to the Khartoum government but also to other buyers in neighboring countries.

"Gold mines have become the main source of income for a country with many economic difficulties. And in these moments of tension they become a strategic objective," Shewit Woldemichael, an expert on Sudan's Crisis issues, explains to BBC Mundo Group.

"And above all it has been one of the sources of funding for the RSF and one that the army views with some suspicion," she adds.

At the same time, rampant extraction has caused a series of devastating effects in the areas around the mines, with a very high toll of people not only killed by the collapse of the mines, but also sickened by the mercury and arsenic that is used. in the extraction of this metal.

But how did gold become this strategic element in the violence that Sudan is experiencing these days?

Sudan and its "golden curse"
Following the independence of the territories now known as Sudan from British rule, in 1956, a difficult reorganization process began, full of ups and downs.

Along this path, the country found the main form of financing in oil production.

However, towards the mid-1980s, an independence process began in the south of the country, which concluded in 2011, after fierce conflict and political decision-making, with the creation of the Republic of South Sudan.

With that independence, Sudan lost two thirds of the money that came from crude oil exports.

The decrease in resources intensified internal tensions between various ethnic groups, militias, and armed groups that coexist in the country.

In 2012, it was revealed that an area called Jebel Amir, in the north of the country, could contain enough gold reserves to alleviate the difficult economic situation in the country.

"This was clearly seen as a godsend, considering what they had lost with South Sudan," Tufts University Sudan analyst Alex de Waal told the BBC.

"But it soon became a curse because what it did was intensify the fight for control of the territory between various sides and gave rise to an uncontrolled gold rush," he adds.

According to local records and De Waal himself, tens of thousands of young people flocked to that region of the country to try their luck in shallow mines with rudimentary equipment.

Some struck gold and became rich, others were crushed in collapsing pits or sickened by mercury and arsenic poisoning used to process the nuggets of the metal.

In 2021, 31 people died after a disused gold mine collapsed in West Kordofan province. And without going any further, on March 31, another 14 people died when another mine collapsed in the north of the country.

According to the Sudan University of Science and Technology, in analyzes carried out in watersheds near mining areas in 2020, mercury concentration levels of 2004 parts per million (ppm) and arsenic of 14.23 ppm were found.

According to the WHO, the permitted levels are 1 ppm for mercury and 10 ppm for arsenic in water.

"The use of cyanide and mercury will definitely lead to an environmental disaster in the country," El Jeili Hamouda Saleh, a professor of environmental law at Bahri University in Khartoum, told local radio.

"In the country there are more than 40,000 gold mining sites. Some 60 gold processing companies operate in 13 states of the country, 15 of them in South Kordofan. This is not going to end well, because they do not comply with environmental requirements. ", he pointed out.

But it was not the only thing that happened. A tribal leader known as Musa Halil and loyal to Al Bashir took control of the territory after an ethnic cleansing that claimed the lives of more than 800 people residing in the area.

Halil began mining for the gold and selling it, not only to the government in Khartoum but also to other buyers.

However, in 2017 -after Halil, accused of crimes against humanity, was handed over to the international authorities- Hemedti, leader of the RSF and who had armed himself to defend Al Bashir from any military threat, took control of the exploitation. mining.

At that time, income from the sale of gold represented about 40% of the country's exports. Literally a gold mine.

"That gold made Hemedti the country's leading metal trader and with it, he also gained control of the border with Chad and Libya," De Waal says.

A path to democracy
The truth is that, after the fall of Omar al Bashir in 2019 due to a coup carried out by the military, the country was left in the hands of the two men who controlled the armed groups: Hemedti and Al Burhan.

"Thanks, among other factors, to the control of gold production, with 70,000 men and more than 10,000 armed pickup trucks, the RSF became the de facto infantry of Sudan, the only force capable of controlling the streets of the capital, Khartoum. , and other cities," says De Waal.

In 2021, both leaders promised -in a timid alliance- to start a process that would end in a civil and democratic government for Sudan.

"In that alliance, ratified last December, it was clear that the gold production was going to be handed over to the civilian government that was elected. But evidently, the growing power of Hemedti made people around Al Burhan ask to control the actions of the RSF," explains Woldemichael

Although he clarifies that there are many forces that also want to participate in the control of gold in northern Sudan

"For that reason, the Al Burham-controlled army tried to use the security sector reform negotiations [as part of broader political transition negotiations] to control the RSF, under conditions that Hemedti was not going to accept." , indicated.

That was one of the many factors that has escalated the tension to the violent clashes over the weekend. Although other factors still need to be added that may end up destabilizing the country.

"As the fighting in Libya subsides, it is expected that many more Darfur fighters who had been fighting in Libya will end up returning, furthering the fight over resources, including gold mines," he noted.

For analysts, the truth is that peace will depend above all on the effects of international condemnation of the use of violence in the country.

"It is not certain that either side will win outright, so as the casualties on both sides unfortunately increase and therefore internal and international condemnation increases, I think they will decide to negotiate," he concluded.

 

https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-65297706