From the Red Sea to the Sahel, the United Arab Emirates has quietly but steadily expanded its footprint across Africa. What began as commercial engagement – in ports, logistics and commodities – has evolved into something more strategic. Nowhere is that more visible than in Sudan, where the Emirates stand accused of playing a decisive role in a brutal war.
Since fighting erupted in 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the UAE has faced growing scrutiny over its alleged ties to the RSF.
Sudan’s government and armed forces have accused the UAE of providing support to the RSF in the civil war, while European officials say they have raised concerns with Abu Dhabi over reported backing for the militia – allegations the Emirates deny.
This week, a UN fact-finding mission said atrocities committed by the RSF in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur and one of the last major cities in the region outside RSF control, bore the “hallmarks of genocide”.
Against that backdrop, attention has increasingly turned to the RSF’s sources of funding.
In a statement to RFI, the UAE foreign ministry said recent UN reports “make no reference to the UAE” and found no evidence implicating it in violations of international law in Sudan – dismissing such claims as “baseless”.
It condemned atrocities committed by the RSF as well as by Sudanese authorities in Port Sudan, the army’s de facto seat of government, and said Sudan’s future should be secured through an independent civilian-led transition, free of both warring parties and extremist groups.
Following the money
At the heart of the controversy lies gold – a resource that has become central to both Sudan’s war economy and Dubai’s status as a global trading hub.
For Abu Dhabi, engagement in Africa blends business interests with geopolitical ambition. For Sudan, it has become entangled in a wider regional contest for power, resources and influence.
Marc Lavergne, emeritus research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, spoke to RFI about the economic and political links binding the Emirates to Sudan and the broader sub region.
RFI: How central is Sudan to the UAE’s broader strategy in Africa?
Marc Lavergne: At the outset, everything comes down to gold – and to Dubai [one of the seven emirates that constitute the UAE]. Dubai is the world’s largest gold market, and Sudan has immense reserves. It has become Africa’s leading gold producer, ahead of South Africa. Gold is found across the vast territory of Sudan – you could almost say that you just have to bend down to pick it up.
There are tens of thousands of artisanal miners, most of them not professionals, who come from all over Africa and the Sahel to scrape the soil. These miners are controlled by the RSF, who collect the gold and bypass the central bank and official channels. The gold is then flown directly to Dubai to be refined.
This ensures the prosperity of the RSF and, at the same time, that of Dubai. That is precisely why the regular Sudanese army sought to regain control of these resources. It ordered the RSF to fall into line – to wear uniforms, adopt ranks and submit to the authority of the generals who have ruled in Khartoum since independence in 1956, almost without interruption.
Those generals, backed by Egypt and other militarised regimes, also need resources – not so much to develop the country, but to serve the interests of the army, the military institutions and its officers.
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RFI: In this context, how does the UAE position itself in relation to its partners and other powers in the sub-region?
ML: The United Arab Emirates is a federation, with Abu Dhabi as its political centre. Business is largely concentrated in Dubai, while administration is more firmly anchored in Abu Dhabi. There is also a form of rivalry with Saudi Arabia.
The UAE is a small country, with around 10 million inhabitants, of whom only about 20 percent are Emirati citizens – the rest are migrant workers. Saudi Arabia, by contrast, has a population of around 40 million, most of them Saudis.
These two countries are pursuing competing visions for 2030, embodied by Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Zayed in the Emirates. Both are seeking a form of regional leadership, alongside other Gulf actors that may be rivals or allies depending on the moment – Qatar, Kuwait and the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
RFI: This competition seems to be playing out in Africa too. The Emirates appear to be expanding their influence across multiple fronts – security and defence, as we’ve discussed, but also ports, logistics and diplomacy. When did this strategy really take shape?
ML: We should remember that the Emirates were once known as the “pirate coast” during the British period. These societies have very old ties with Africa. For centuries, there were networks stretching from East Africa deep into the continent, involving the trade in ivory, slaves and other commodities – long before European colonisation.
Ethiopia has traditionally remained outside this sphere of influence, but neighbouring countries such as Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan have long been connected to the Gulf world. In that sense, the Emirates’ current engagement in Africa is less a novelty than a continuation, albeit in a modernised and far more assertive form.
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RFI: The accusations against the Emirates are extremely serious – notably claims that they are providing armed support to the RSF, whose atrocities are now reported almost daily. There are also allegations of mercenaries being transported to Sudan, including some from South America. How do you explain the apparent impunity enjoyed by the UAE, particularly with regard to its major partners in Europe and the United States?
ML: The UAE does not submit to diktats from Washington or elsewhere. When it intervenes to support marginalised groups like the RSF in Sudan – or similar players in other parts of Africa – it is operating in failed states that are overflowing with exploitable resources.
International legality is not a decisive factor. No one is really in a position to oppose the Emirates, because they now play what many see as an irreplaceable role on the global stage. The United States is no longer acting as the guarantor of world order – quite the opposite. It is opening the door to a form of global disorder.
In that environment, small but powerful countries like the UAE do not hesitate to act outside international law, whether by supporting rebel movements or, in some cases, groups that others would label as terrorists.
This article is an adaptation of an interview in French by Sidy Yansané. It has been updated since publication to include a response from the United Arab Emirates foreign ministry.
