Sudan’s central bank reverses ban on gold exports by companies

Wed Nov 05 2025

Sudan’s central bank on Wednesday decided to allow companies to export gold, after banning the move last September.

The central bank’s decision, issued on September 15, had caused a crisis between state institutions and exporters who rejected it.

The bank said in a circular that it “allows the export of gold by any legal person after fulfilling export procedures, provided that it is exported according to international market prices.”

It stipulated that payments for gold exports must be collected via advance payment or letters of credit, which should not include conditions related to the calibration of the goods abroad, with the value of the export proceeds to be repatriated within 30 days from the shipping date.

The central bank permitted gold exporters to use their export proceeds and also allowed them to be sold to any bank or to the central bank.

Sudan’s gold production in areas under central government control reached 53 tons during the first nine months of this year, while export proceeds did not exceed $909 million, prompting several bodies to investigate the price discrepancies.

The central bank obligated gold exporters to adhere to controls issued by the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Minerals, the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization, and the Sudan Gold Refinery Company.

It clarified that the minimum for approving an export contract is 10 kilograms of gold. It also prohibited government agencies and foreigners, whether individuals or companies, from exporting the precious metal, except for concession companies.

The circular limited the central bank’s role to purchasing gold to build in-kind reserves.

Most gold in Sudan is produced by artisanal mining, which employs nearly two million people. Meanwhile, most companies rely on extracting gold from traditional mining residues, known as “Karta,” which they process with chemical substances such as cyanide.

Most of the gold produced is smuggled to several countries, including the UAE and Egypt, depriving Sudan of hard currency needed to finance the import of goods, especially wheat flour and fuel.

Source: https://www.gold.org/