UK sanctions Sudan-linked gold and finance networks

Britain announced sanctions on Thursday against what it described as illicit gold and finance networks supporting rival sides in Sudan's civil war.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said Sudan's gold trade, worth billions of dollars, was helping finance weapons procurement, military operations and armed groups. The sanctions target 11 Sudanese individuals and businesses suspected of links to networks financing and supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the regular Sudanese Armed Forces.

The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023. It has killed 200,000 people by some estimates and displaced more than 11 million people.

The UK said all the sanctions targets are Sudanese, but trade internationally, including in gold markets in Dubai and Hong Kong. One target is Sudanese national Abu Dharr, whom Britain accused of financing the Rapid Support Forces through real estate, conflict gold and holding companies based in Dubai. The sanctions also include three Sudanese companies based in the United Arab Emirates and one Sudanese firm based in Hong Kong.

Britain also sanctioned two Sudanese state-owned mining companies suspected of generating gold revenue for the Sudanese Armed Forces. It targeted a third state-owned firm, Ariab Mining Company, for what it said was the channelling of conflict-gold revenue to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Sudanese people were paying the price for a war fuelled by guns, fighters and illicit flows of gold and finance to both sides.

The source report says Sudan is one of Africa's top gold producers. The state Sudanese Mineral Resources Company reported a five-year high in production of 70 tonnes in 2025.

The United Nations said on Wednesday that the rival factions were profiting from control over Sudan's resources and that a war economy was sustaining the conflict. Britain has previously sanctioned senior Rapid Support Forces commanders, who have also been targeted by the European Union.

The report says the Rapid Support Forces have been accused of acting as a proxy for the United Arab Emirates. The UAE denies arming the paramilitary group, despite evidence cited in numerous international reports, according to the source.

The European Council said on Tuesday that it was increasing sanctions. It said its measures, intended to curb financing for the conflict, would ban the purchase, import or transfer of gold originating in Sudan.