Former Central Bank Official Calls for Halting Gum Arabic Exports
Sudan Events – Rehab Abdullah
Dr. Ahmed Babiker Hamour, former Director General of the National Export Financing and Insurance Agency under the Central Bank of Sudan, called for an immediate halt to the export of gum arabic to any country worldwide. This comes in response to U.S. sanctions imposed on the Sudanese government over alleged chemical weapons use by the army against militias.
During a discussion in the “Economic Forum” group, Hamour explained that these sanctions aim to block the new government and Prime Minister from applying for any loans, although they do not affect humanitarian aid.
He pointed out that the last U.S. credit line extended to Sudan was in 2020, worth $1 billion, which has yet to be recovered. Since then, Sudan has not submitted any new loan requests.
Hamour noted that France is the world’s top exporter of gum arabic, despite not having a single hashab tree. Sudan’s gum arabic revenue does not exceed $200 million annually. He argued that banning gum arabic exports is an opportunity to reorganize the domestic sector, correct its imbalances, and reduce chaos. He added, “To protect Sudanese producers, the government should purchase the annual production at rewarding prices and build a strategic stockpile over several years. This would enable control of global supply in the future and allow for higher revenues compared to previous chaotic years.”
Economist Dr. Abu Bakr Al-Tijani also stated that one of the biggest issues regarding gum arabic is that neither the government nor the Gum Arabic Company can afford to buy it at competitive prices. As a result, the product is sold to other buyers and smuggled out, allowing other countries to control its global supply and prices. Al-Tijani called this a clear neglect of national resources, noting that the same applies to other products like gold, sesame, wheat, and sunflower.
He stressed that smuggling cannot be effectively tackled at the borders due to the high costs, but rather economically, by offering competitive prices. He concluded that the government’s failure over decades to address the waste of strategic income-generating resources through smuggling has led to Sudan’s current economic crisis.
