Abstract

After South Sudan's secession in 2011, Sudan lost 75 percent of its oil resources. Since then, the Sudanese government hasimplemented policies to increase gold production and exports to offset revenue losses from oil. This paper examines thecontribution of gold exports to Sudan's total exports and explores the main obstacles to gold mining in the country. Acomparative analysis method is employed. The findings indicate that relying solely on gold revenues as a new source ofincome to recover the Sudanese economy and reduce the trade balance deficit is insufficient. Gold smuggling poses asignificant challenge to the gold sector; for instance, the Chairman of the Energy and Mining Committee in the NationalAssembly disclosed the smuggling of 58 tons of gold in 2013. Despite the disadvantages of artisanal mining, it providesemployment opportunities, benefiting about 5 million people. This suggests that artisanal mining can be a vital economicactivity for livelihoods, and the government should find ways to mitigate its disadvantages while enhancing its benefits.