UN says Sudan's war is driven by control of resources and trade routes

Sudan’s three-year war is being sustained by an economy built around the control of territory, trade routes and commodities, with the UN warning that resource exploitation is exposing global supply chains to serious human rights risks.

A new report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released on Wednesday says the three-year conflict has transformed how Sudan’s resources are controlled and traded, with rival armed groups and associated actors relying on natural resources and commercial networks to generate revenue and maintain military operations.

The report examines the country’s gum arabic trade as a case study of how the conflict economy operates. Gum arabic is a natural resin harvested from acacia trees and widely used as a stabiliser and emulsifier in products including soft drinks, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and processed foods.

Before the war, Sudan supplied an estimated 70 to 80 per cent of global crude gum arabic exports, making the trade one of the country’s most important links to international markets.

The fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted in April 2023, has, however, fractured the trade.

According to OHCHR, control of territory now influences how gum arabic moves from production areas to export markets, creating new risks for producers, traders and companies that rely on the commodity.

Supplies from areas controlled by the SAF have continued moving towards Port Sudan for export, while significant quantities from RSF-controlled areas have reportedly been redirected through informal cross-border routes into neighbouring countries, the report says. This has made it increasingly difficult to verify the origin of Sudanese gum arabic entering global markets.

According to the UN agency, commodities from conflict-affected areas may pass through transit countries, where changes in documentation, processing or labelling can obscure their source.

For communities inside Sudan, the consequences have been immediate. The report says people involved in the gum arabic trade have faced threats to their safety, arbitrary detention, looting and extortion by parties to the conflict and associated actors.

In West Kordofan, for instance, the UN highlighted the case of El-Nuhud, where the Gum Arabic Exchange and warehouses were reportedly looted by the RSF in May 2025 when stocks were full and ready for export. The disruption affected traders and communities whose incomes depend on the sector.

According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, Sudan’s natural resources are being used to deepen the conflict rather than benefit the population.

“Sudan’s vast wealth of natural resources should benefit its people. Distressingly, what we are seeing today is anything but that. In fact, this wealth is only serving to undermine human rights and drive conflict, bringing pain and suffering on an enormous scale,” Türk said.

He called on governments and companies involved in Sudan’s commodity supply chains to strengthen oversight and ensure that trade practices do not contribute to abuses or help sustain the fighting.

“Companies cannot continue business as usual when sourcing from conflict-affected value chains,” Türk said.

“They should undertake heightened, conflict-sensitive human rights due diligence, including stronger scrutiny of routes, intermediaries, documentation and possible re-labelling, and ensure that affected people have access to safe and effective grievance and response mechanisms."