Sudan’s Central Bank Ends Gold Export Monopoly
Sudan lifts central bank exclusivity on gold exports, allowing licensed firms to sell abroad, repatriate earnings within 30 days, and trade FX with local banks.
Sudan’s central bank has dismantled its exclusive control over gold exports, permitting private companies to ship bullion abroad in a move aimed at liberalising the sector and easing pressure on foreign-exchange shortages.
The decision, issued under Circular No. 17/2025 by the General Department of Policies, Research and Statistics, overturns a September ban that had restricted gold purchases and exports exclusively to the central bank or its authorised agents. The circular allows any registered corporate entity that completes export formalities to sell gold abroad at international benchmark prices, provided settlement is made through advance payment or confirmed letters of credit.
The Bank of Sudan said in its circular that the policy aimed to “ensure transparency in gold exports, preserve stability in the FX market and maximise national returns from mineral resources.” The rules require exporters using letters of credit to repatriate earnings within 30 days of shipment once documents are accepted.
Gold exporters are now permitted to utilise their export proceeds and may sell foreign currency earnings to commercial banks or to the central bank. All transactions must comply with standards set by the Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Minerals, the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organisation and the Sudan Gold Refinery Company.
The minimum export contract threshold has been set at 10kg of gold. Government entities and foreign individuals or companies — except concession-holding mining firms — remain barred from exporting bullion.
Sudan is Africa’s third-largest gold producer, with output of 63.3 tonnes in 2023, according to the World Gold Council, but much of the trade has historically leaked into informal export channels. The sector has been vital in cushioning FX shortages as Sudan grapples with inflation surpassing 300% and a parallel currency market that has diverged sharply from official rates.
Under the current parallel market rate of SDG 3,700 to $1, every SDG 3.7bn in gold export earnings equates to roughly $1m, a critical metric as the country seeks hard currency to finance imports and stabilise the pound.
The central bank referenced the 1981 Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, the 2002 Central Bank of Sudan Act, and a 2013 gold export regulation framework as legal underpinnings for the new rules, indicating an attempt to restore regulatory order following years of gold market distortions and smuggling.
Industry observers have previously warned that centralised monopoly controls encouraged off-the-books trading via neighbouring states.
By reopening exports to the private sector — with mandatory forex repatriation and institutional compliance — policymakers are betting the formal market can outcompete smuggling channels if exporters are given liquidity incentives and predictable FX rules.
Reporting by Awad Mustafa