Sudan has vast oil, gold and agricultural resources. Who controls them?

Sudan’s civilian war, present successful its third year, has pitted the service against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) successful a devastating conflict for power.

The struggle has unleashed the world’s largest displacement crisis, with much than 9.5 cardinal radical forced from their homes crossed Sudan’s 18 states and millions facing starvation.

Sudan has ample earthy resources, including oil, golden and cultivation onshore that could assistance provender its people, but the warring and shifting power of these resources marque that impossible.

Here are 8 maps and charts to amusement you what resources Sudan has and who controls them:

Who controls what successful Sudan?

The service holds overmuch of the northbound and the east, including the capital, Khartoum, arsenic good arsenic different cardinal cities on the Nile and the strategical Port Sudan connected the Red Sea.

The RSF has consolidated its grip connected the occidental portion of Darfur, aft it captured el-Fasher, the superior of North Darfur state, connected October 26, having besieged it for astir 18 months.

What are Sudan’s main exports?

Three sectors lead: Oil, gold, and cultivation products.

In 2023, Sudan’s exports worthy $5.09bn were chiefly crude lipid ($1.13bn), golden ($1.03bn), carnal products ($902m), oilseeds ($709m, of which $613m was sesame), and gum arabic ($141m).

Sudan is the world’s largest exporter of sesame seeds and gum arabic, which is utilized arsenic a stabiliser and emulsifier by the planetary nutrient and beverage manufacture and goes into pharmaceuticals, supplements, and cosmetics.

Who controls Sudan’s cultivation resources?

The country’s geography is shaped mostly by the Nile River, which floods annually, watering the cultivation lands.

The White Nile meets the Blue Nile successful Khartoum and continues northwards into Egypt arsenic the Nile.

About fractional (51.4 percent) of Sudan is covered successful grazing land, mostly crossed the confederate portion of the country, ending astir astatine Khartoum.

Grazing lands, oregon rangelands, are coveted due to the fact that they tin enactment the herding and carnal husbandry industries – power is divided astir arsenic betwixt the service and the RSF.

The bluish assemblage of rangeland is simply a portion known arsenic the “gum arabic belt” wherever the acacia trees that nutrient the invaluable resin are planted.

Sudan’s croplands are mostly concentrated betwixt the Blue and White Niles, wherever Gezira authorities lies, an country controlled by equipped forces.

(Al Jazeera)

Who controls Sudan’s petroleum?

Oil exports are Sudan’s superior root of revenue.

Production expanded betwixt 2001 and 2010, from 200,000 barrels per time to astir 500,000bpd. In 2011, it collapsed erstwhile South Sudan seceded, taking 75 percent of Sudan’s lipid reserves with it.

By 2023, output had fallen to 70,000bpd, according to the United States Energy Information Administration.

The Observatory of Economic Complexity estimated that crude lipid remained 1 of Sudan’s apical exports that year, valued astatine $1.13bn, making it the world’s 40th-largest crude exporter.

Its apical buyers were Malaysia ($468m), Italy ($299m), Germany ($125m), China ($105m), Singapore ($80.3m) and India ($51.4m).

As of 2024, Sudan’s lipid reserves were estimated astatine 1.25 cardinal barrels, portion earthy state reserves stood astatine 3 trillion cubic feet. Sudan, however, neither produces nor consumes state successful important quantities.

Most of Sudan’s oilfields are successful the southbound adjacent the South Sudan border, and the 2 countries’ lipid sectors stay intimately linked. Many of these fields are presently nether RSF control.

The manufacture is supported by 5 refineries successful the cardinal and bluish regions. The largest is the Khartoum refinery, which tin process 100,000bpd and, arsenic of precocious January 2025, is held by SAF.

The service besides controls the smaller Port Sudan refinery.

Pipelines transportation crude from the confederate fields to the Bashayer export terminal southbound of Port Sudan, a important way for Sudanese and South Sudanese oil. The enactment from el-Obeid to Port Sudan remains mostly nether service control.

Who controls Sudan’s gold?

Sudan is 1 of Africa’s starring golden producers, with deposits crossed the northeast, centre and the south.

Most of the deposits successful eastbound Sudan are controlled by the Sudanese army, portion the cardinal and southwestern goldfields are mostly nether RSF control.

Much of the golden is extracted done artisanal and small-scale mining, which employs hundreds of thousands of radical but operates mostly extracurricular authorities regulation.

Since the warfare began successful 2023, power implicit golden mines and commercialized routes has go a captious root of backing for some sides successful the conflict.

Local quality agencies reported successful July that, contempt the conflict, Sudan’s golden accumulation surged to 64 tonnes successful 2024, up 53 percent from 41.8 tonnes successful 2022, generating $1.57bn successful ineligible export revenues. An unquantified black-market commercialized continues, fuelled by the instability.

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, the United Arab Emirates bought much than 99 percent of the $1.03bn successful Sudanese golden exports successful 2023.

Who are Sudan’s main trading partners?

Some 80 percent of Sudan’s exports are to Asia, followed by 11 percent to Europe and 8.5 percent to Africa.

In 2023, the UAE was Sudan’s apical commercialized partner, importing $1.09bn, oregon 21 percent of Sudan’s full exports, astir wholly successful gold. China ranked second, importing $882m (17 percent), chiefly successful rootlike products.

It was followed by Saudi Arabia, with $802m (16 percent) worthy of mostly livestock; Malaysia, with $470m (9 percent) of chiefly crude petroleum; and Egypt, with $387m (7.6 percent) of a premix of goods.

These 5 countries relationship for much than two-thirds of Sudan’s exports.

Sudan astatine a glance

Sudan is the third-largest state successful Africa, astir 1.9 cardinal sq km (718,000sq miles).

As of 2024, its colonisation was 50.5 million, with astir residents concentrated along the Nile River and successful municipality centres. The Greater Khartoum country has a colonisation of astir 7 million, and Nyala successful South Darfur has astir 1.15 cardinal people.

Other main cities are el-Obeid (560,000), Port Sudan (547,000), Kassala (411,000), Gadarif (364,000), el-Daein (265,000), el-Fasher (253,000), ad-Damazin (186,000), Geneina (163,000), Gereida (120,000), and Atbara (108,000).

(Al Jazeera)