Sudan: Gum arabic haul worth $75m seized by RSF in Kordofan looting spree

Middle East Eye

5 days ago

Lorries containing around 10,000 tonnes of gum arabic worth tens of millions of dollars were looted by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters in Sudan earlier this month and have disappeared, traders and officials told Middle East Eye.
The shipment was being held in more than 400 vehicles alongside other crops ready for export from the West Kordofan town of al-Nahud when the RSF seized the area from the Sudanese military on 2 May.
After taking al-Nahud, a centre for gum arabic cultivation and a strategic point on the road that links army-dominated eastern Sudan and the RSF-held west, fighters ransacked homes, shops and businesses.
Gum arabic traders told MEE this process is ongoing, as RSF fighters attempt to break into warehouses and stores containing the valuable product across the states of West Kordofan and North Kordofan, where there is intense fighting.
Two traders who have been directly impacted by the thefts suggested that the gum arabic looted in recent days in and around al-Nahud is worth around $75m at today's inflated prices.
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Traders told MEE that around a third of gum arabic cultivated this year has been looted by the RSF, which they say is worth up to $125m.
MEE has asked the RSF for comment.
A report by UN investigators delivered to the United Nations Security Council last month estimated that the conflict had led to the loss of at least 90,000 tonnes of gum arabic worth $200m. Prices have risen sharply over the two years of conflict.
Gum arabic is used as a key emulsifier and stabiliser in various foods, cosmetics and medicine, including Coca-Cola and popular chocolate products such as M&Ms.
Harvested by extracting the dried sap of certain acacia trees, it is found across the Sahel region.
However, up to 80 percent of the world's gum arabic was sourced from Sudan before war broke out between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in April 2023.
Traders say two-thirds of Sudan's gum arabic is sourced from Kordofan, an arid southern region where hostilities have escalated this year.
Al-Nahud is the second-largest gum arabic hub after al-Obeid in neighbouring North Kordofan state.
'At the beginning of the war, al-Nahud was safe because it was between areas controlled by the RSF and SAF so far away from the fighters and soldiers,' Said Mohammed al-Tahir, a gum arabic trader from the town now based in Port Sudan, told MEE.
'But after SAF established a unit in al-Nahud and more soldiers came after withdrawing from areas of Darfur like Nyala and al-Fasher, it began attracting the attention of the RSF.'
Smuggling boom
The RSF and Sudanese army began fighting in 2023 when tensions over plans to fold the paramilitaries into the regular military erupted into open conflict.
War has devastated Sudan, leaving its capital Khartoum in ruins, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing 13 million others.
Throughout the war, RSF fighters have looted areas they have controlled and seized large amounts of gum arabic being stored in Khartoum in the war's earliest days.
Gum arabic is used as a key emulsifier and stabiliser in various foods, cosmetics and medicine (Daniel Hilton/MEE)
In recent months, the military has pushed the RSF out of the capital and is now making gains in Kordofan.
The RSF has responded to setbacks by declaring a parallel administration in the western region of Darfur and other areas it still controls, a move condemned by much of the international community and the Sudanese government currently based in Port Sudan.
Though the RSF and its fighters have made money by charging levies and other fees on the trade and transport of gum arabic, in September it banned anyone from exporting it east through SAF-held areas.
Since then, the smuggling of gum arabic through neighbouring countries has ballooned.
Tahir said business associates had seen his product being sold in South Sudan, Chad and even Libya's Tripoli at reduced prices.
Countries with a previously low or negligible production of gum arabic, such as Chad, Senegal, Egypt and South Sudan, have reportedly begun 'aggressively' offering cheap gum arabic at reduced prices.
'We have to trust the buyers not to purchase smuggled gum arabic'
- Ibrahim Abu Baker Elsiddig Ibrahim, a trader
Ibrahim Abu Baker Elsiddig Ibrahim, a trader, said international gum arabic trading organisations recently agreed to ensure that only officially certified Sudanese gum arabic exported through Port Sudan would be purchased.
Generally, Sudanese exports are purchased by companies such as Nexira and Alland & Robert, which then sell on to large consumer goods firms.
'We have to trust the buyers not to purchase smuggled gum arabic,' Ibrahim said.
A complicating factor may be sanctions that the United States is imposing on Sudan.
Last week, Washington accused the Sudanese military of using chemical weapons and said new sanctions would affect US exports to Sudan and access to US government lines of credit.
The international importance of Sudan's gum arabic trade meant the product was made exempt from previous sanctions imposed on Sudan in the 1990s.
But there are fears within Sudan's gum arabic industry that Sudanese firms may find themselves excluded from international payment systems such as Swift.
'Maybe American sanctions will affect the legitimate gum arabic trade,' Ibrahim said.
'They could make an exception for gum arabic, because so many American companies rely on it, but that would pose moral issues when compared to other industries.'