Gold, Gum Arabic, and the Resource Curse: Why Sudan's Riches Keep Making It Poorer
In 2011, South Sudan became independent and took with it approximately 75% of Sudan’s oil revenues. The Bashir government, which had built its entire fiscal architecture around oil — funding the military, buying political loyalty, subsidising fuel and bread to suppress urban discontent — suddenly faced a structural collapse. Oil revenues fell from $6 billion annually to under $500 million. The government needed a replacement. It found one underground. Sudan’s gold sector, which had been significant but secondary during the oil years, was rapidly expanded through a combination of artisanal small-scale mining and commercial concessions. By 2012, gold had become Sudan’s largest export earner. By 2014, Sudan was producing approximately 70 tonnes annually, making it the third largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa and Ghana. ...