Gold Crossing Borders, Blood Spilling: The Hidden Story of How Sudan’s War Is Financed Through Nairobi and Dubai

Sudan Events – Agencies

At the heart of Sudan’s raging conflict—where cities burn and Darfur’s villages lie buried beneath fire and corpses—a secret current of gold flows silently across the borders. This is no ordinary trade story, but a complex network fueling what is now described as one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the 21st century.

For two years, as Sudan drowned in blood, gold bars were quietly smuggled out from mines in Darfur and around Khartoum. They traveled through rugged routes toward East Africa, ultimately reaching Nairobi, the Kenyan capital that has—without official acknowledgment—become a hub for laundering Sudan’s war gold.

From there, the bars make their way to Dubai, the glittering destination now under mounting international scrutiny as the crossroads of stolen Sudanese gold and the global center for its re-export. In exchange, money and weapons return, fueling death and destruction in El Fasher, Nyala, and Omdurman.

In Nairobi: Official Silence, Unanswered Questions

The story began to surface when a fierce political controversy erupted inside Kenya. Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua made a stunning accusation, claiming that President William Ruto had turned a blind eye to the smuggling of Sudanese gold through Nairobi. His words landed like a political explosion: “The gold comes from Sudan through known networks, then is re-exported to Dubai… and some people profit from it.”

The Kenyan government did not deny it—nor did it respond. That silence, observers noted, spoke louder than words.

As days passed, testimonies with more details began emerging from financial circles in Kenya: currency exchange firms, shipping offices, and seemingly innocuous trading names. Behind them, according to reports, moved suspicious funds exceeding one billion dollars in a single year.

The Visit That Was Never Forgotten

In January 2024, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo—better known as Hemedti, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces—arrived in Nairobi. At the time, some portrayed the visit as a diplomatic effort to help resolve Sudan’s crisis. But as events unfolded, it came to be seen quite differently.

Hemedti had not come to seek political mediation, many now believe, but to strengthen the trade networks that finance his war.

Just weeks later, Kenya’s president visited the United Arab Emirates, announcing wide-ranging economic partnerships—even as international reports pointed to Abu Dhabi as the heart of the looted Sudanese gold network.

Coincidence? Perhaps.
But in the worlds of politics, gold, and blood—few believe in coincidences.

The UAE: Lifeline of Gold, Source of Arms

In Khartoum and Darfur, one name echoes whenever the Rapid Support Forces are mentioned: the UAE.

Sudan’s government has accused Abu Dhabi before the International Court of Justice of supporting and arming the RSF—with drones, advanced ammunition, mercenaries, and supply lines. What once seemed like political backing has, in the eyes of many observers, evolved into full-fledged military involvement.

In return, gold flows to Dubai—becoming part of a global market scrubbed clean of its origins and its victims.

The Result: A War That Endures Because the Money Never Stops

This is not a passing trade or a mere convergence of economic interests. It is, as one Kenyan report put it, “An alliance between gold and guns… whose victims are an annihilated people.”

Between Nairobi and Dubai, silent networks operate out of sight—companies that guard their secrets fiercely, and governments that prefer silence over acknowledgment.

But Sudan’s blood does not stay silent.

Epilogue: A Story Still Unfolding

The gold will keep flowing unless this hidden bridge is broken. The war will keep consuming cities unless these networks are confronted with law and public truth. Families will keep burying their loved ones—in a silence that screams—if the world continues to treat gold as a commodity, not as a bullet.

Sudan is not merely asked to win— It is asked to survive a web of interests far larger than its borders, and far crueller than its enemies’ guns.

And between Nairobi and Dubai, one question still hangs in the air:

Can the war ever end… if the road of gold remains open?