This paper analyzes a radical shift in Sudan’s gold exports away from the UAE and towards Egypt between 2024 and 2025, as revealed by data from the Central Bank of Sudan’s Foreign Trade Statistical Digest,24 and reported by Bloomberg in April 2026.25 The UAE’s share of total official exports declined from 99% to 56% between 2024 and 2025, while imports by Egypt rose twenty-fold.

This shift, while significant, does not reflect a reform of the structure of Sudan’s gold economy, but rather a redistribution of plundered wealth amidst ongoing war and the absence of good governance. Indeed, as the paper shows, the ultimate destination has not changed, only the route. Egypt profits from acting as an intermediary, buying from Sudan at less than the price at which it can sell to the UAE and selling it onwards. Similarly, this shift has not addressed the longstanding problem of gold smuggling, which continued at high levels in 2025.

Analysis of data reveals a fundamental truth: the diversion of gold exports from UAE to Egypt does not represent a reform of the structure of Sudan’s gold economy, but rather a redistribution of losses and gains among regional actors while the same plundering continues.

Full paper here

Understanding changing gold exportsDownload