Gold, metals and water, here are the interests of the Emirates and Egypt in Sudan
What is happening in Sudan and what are the economic games that are being played and between which countries. Luca Mainoldi's analysis for Fides agency
The conflict between the two military factions in Sudan risks having repercussions on neighboring countries, also because both sides have links with neighboring states and external sponsors.
EGYPT SUPPORTS THE ARMED FORCES OF SUDAN
The Sudanese Armed Forces (FAS) commanded by General Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane have strong ties with their Egyptian counterparts, as evidenced by the fact that some Cairo soldiers, who were in Sudan for joint exercises, were temporarily detained by the militiamen of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Al-Bourhane's rival, General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo (or Dagalo), known as "Hemetti".
The proximity between the Sudanese regular armed forces and those of Egypt is part of the pressure campaign conducted by Cairo against Ethiopia due to the control of the flow of the Nile waters, compromised according to Egypt, by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ( GERD), the largest hydroelectric plant ever built in Africa.
THE HAND OF THE LIBYAN GENERAL HAFTAR
It is therefore understandable that Addis Ababa favors Daglo rather than Al-Bourhane. From its strongholds in Darfur (in the west of the country) Daglo with its RSF has woven a dense network of cross-border relationships focused on the trade of gold extracted from the mines of the area and on sending its own men to reinforce the ranks of its own regional allies. In particular, Daglo is supported by the strong man from Cyrenaica (eastern Libya) Khalifa Haftar, to whom the Sudanese rebel general is said to have supplied some mercenaries. Haftar's role shows the complexity of the regional political situation.
The Libyan general is sponsored by the United Arab Emirates , France, Russia and Egypt. The latter, as we have seen, supports Al-Bourhane and not Daglo. Haftar's room for maneuver derives, according to some analyses, from the fact that he guarantees the security of the western Egyptian border.
THE EMIRATES AND THE GOLD OF SUDAN
Furthermore, the Emirates, sponsors of both Haftar and Daglo, are the recipients of the gold extracted from the Sudanese and Central African mines, controlled by the Russian militiamen of Wagner, who are themselves accused by Western countries of collusion with Daglo. The latter also seems to get involved in the civil conflict in the Central African Republic if only to draw resources with which to finance the war.
It should be noted that both Daglo's RSF and Al-Bourhane's FAS have their own resources which could allow the two contenders to prolong the war to the bitter end. The former, as mentioned above all the gold and the supply of mercenaries (used for example by the Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the war in Yemen), the latter through the control of vast sectors of the national economy (banks, insurance companies, agri-food sector, industry war, whose products were even used in Ukraine).
The sanctions imposed on Sudan by Western countries for the 2021 coup (conducted jointly by the two rival generals) have not prevented the conflict from erupting.
(Excerpt from an article published on Agenzia Fides;here the original version)
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/guerra-sudan-risorse-minerali/ on Mon, 24 Apr 2023 05:27:48 +0000.