What We Can Learn From the UAE's Unethical Quest for Gold

Sudanese activists demonstrating in a "Hands Off Sudan" protest in London last year. One sign reads "Sanction U.A.E. for Funding Sudan Genocide."

As the price of gold per ounce has soared more than fifty percent year to date, wealthy nations are increasingly attuned to the necessity of diversifying their economic foundations and insulating themselves against an emerging global order in which the supremacy of the US dollar can no longer be taken for granted. Once seen as a tool for economic stabilization, quantitative easing is now considered by many governments as something that can actually create new hazards. They fear it makes the case for a more multipolar financial world stronger and devalues the major currencies; like the Dollar. The UAE, a country abundant with crude oil, has grown increasingly aware of the finitude of its oil wealth and in its effort to preserve its stature, it has become increasingly willing to pursue ventures that transgress ethical boundaries.

The behavior of its gulf neighbors has incentivized the UAE to place less strategic focus on its oil production. Saudi Arabia is significantly developing its financial markets and cultural presence, meanwhile Qatar continues to utilize soft power as a way to grow its political influence on the world stage. Since their own gold reserves are limited and their economy remains heavily dependent on oil, the UAE has turned its attention toward securing more durable, asset-backed sources of wealth, such as gold, which they see as a reliable alternative form of currency. However, the methods employed by Abu Dhabi to obtain access to the gold trade in Sudan shows how Abu Dhabi is gravitating towards unethical malpractices.

Since its inception, Sudan has been encapsulated by turmoil. Khartoum suffered a severe economic setback in 2011 when South Sudan seceded, as three-quarters of its oil reserves rapidly dissipated overnight. Consequently, this led to the ousting of Omar al-Bashir's thirty-year rule, allowing for the tantalizing promise of transitioning to a democracy. This alluring promise of democracy was driven by the Juba Peace Agreement, however the implementation of this agreement proved to be futile. Amidst prolonged political volatility and a lingering power vacuum, a civil war erupted on April 14, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group once backed by al-Bashir. The conflict has displaced more than one million people and has fueled an ongoing genocide in the Darfur region, further disenfranchising the non-Arab population with closer ties to South Sudan.

The UAE has been surreptitious in their support of the RSF, however numerous investigations by UN experts and independent monitoring groups have documented a covert Emirati supply chain channeling arms to the RSF through networks in Chad and Libya. Crates of weaponry, ranging from Kalashnikov rifles to drones and mortars, have been traced back to Emirati suppliers. UN officials have confirmed the seizure of passports belonging to Emirati nationals operating in RSF-held areas, evidence that sharply contradicts Abu Dhabi’s profuse denial in their involvement.

Graphic depicting Sudanese conflict as of October 2025. Source: The Guardian.

The RSF reciprocates the UAE’s support by granting them access to their coveted gold-rich regions. Gold extracted from RSF-dominated mines flows into international markets through clandestine intermediaries, many of whom have connections to Emirati firms. The arrangement has fortified the RSF’s battlefield position, allowing the group to sustain its campaign with a financial pipeline that rivals that of the state. It gives the UAE a foothold in the most gold-laden territory in Africa and allows the Emiratis to establish long-term resource contracts during a period of heightened commodity competition globally.

Sudan is not an exception, however. Precious metals, rare earth elements, and other strategically significant minerals are still being sought for by a number of external players in Sub-Saharan Africa. Numerous occurrences involving opaque agreements, proxy wars, and heightened tensions in strategic locations have resulted from the competition for lithium from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cobalt from Zambia, and graphite from Mozambique. The events occurring in Sudan mirror many other nations where resource scarcity combined with shifts in global power alignment are encouraging an increase in the usage of more aggressive forms of economic coercion by states around the world to further their national interests.

Unless regional powers and international institutions adopt firmer mechanisms to monitor, restrict, and penalize external interference in Africa’s internal conflicts, the struggle for natural resources may become one of the dominant drivers of violence in the coming decades. The UAE’s intervention in Sudan depicts the ongoing struggles of a world that is rapidly approaching the limits of its traditional energy paradigms. Thus, Sudan’s tragedy stands as a reminder of how fears over resources can reshape global politics and the capricious lengths that some governments are willing to take in order to maintain their economic reputability.

By Alexander Di Napoli '26

Published 12/22/2025