Sudan’s Conflict Economy: How Your Candy Company Is Entangled in War

Nov 14

In light of the ongoing war in Sudan, which recently saw the fall of El Fasher in Darfur, a question landed in my inbox:

“Could you help me understand the economic drivers behind Sudan’s ongoing conflict — particularly the role of gold exports and gum Arabic procurement? How are international supply chains, especially in the cosmetics, food, and tech sectors, directly or indirectly linked to this conflict through these commodities?”

Let’s unpack this together — step by step — and I promise to take you on a little journey.

Let’s Go Back to Procurement Basics

Procurement is simply this: getting the right product, in the right amount, at the right time, for the right price.

Imagine you run a company that makes gummy candies. Your job is to make the most delicious gummies, sell them at the right price, and comply with food safety rules. To make this happen, you must procure:

Chemists/chefs – who create recipes
Ingredients – sugar, flavors, gelatin… and yes, gum Arabic (E414)
Machines – to mix, cook, and shape your candies
Production sites – where all the magic happens

These ingredients are your raw materials, sourced from Tier-1 suppliers — the companies you have direct contracts with. Tier-1 suppliers then source raw materials from Tier-2 producers, like sugarcane farmers or Acacia tree harvesters for gum Arabic. Think of it as a Russian Doll of suppliers, each relying on the next.

Normally, you would push your Tier-1 supplier to diversify — if one Tier-2 fails, another steps in. But in the case of gum Arabic, this is nearly impossible!

Sudan’s “Invisible” Monopoly

Gum Arabic is produced by Acacia trees in the Sahel region of Africa. Sudan produces roughly 80% of the world’s gum Arabic, with smaller contributions from Chad, Nigeria, and Senegal making the remaining 20% of world reserve.

This means if anything disrupts Sudan’s production — war, natural disaster, political upheaval — 75% of the global market is at risk. For your candy company, this is catastrophic: no gum Arabic, no gummies.

And it’s not just gummies. Soft drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, confectionery giants like Mars, and cosmetics brands like L’Oréal also rely on gum Arabic. Disruption in Sudan ripples through soft drinks, baked goods, pharmaceutical tablets, and cosmetics worldwide.

Procurement in a War Zone

Now, imagine your suppliers in Sudan. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) control many of the Acacia trees in Kordofan and Darfur, while the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) hold other areas. Both factions want your money. Both factions promise access to gum Arabic.

You have a choice: fund one to secure your supply, or risk your candy business (and many other industries) collapsing.

Here’s where it gets real:

RSF receives financial and logistical support from the UAE, which facilitates gold and gum Arabic trade. Companies like Al Zumoroud & Al Yaqoot Gold & Jewellers and Tradive General Trading LLC (UAE) are known intermediaries. RSF profits from gold, but also ensures gum Arabic is exported safely if you “pay the right fees.”
SAF is supported by other actors, including UAE-linked companies like Emiral Resources, which operates gold mines under SAF control. SAF’s gold exports to the UAE accounted for nearly half of Sudan’s official export earnings in 2024.

You realize: your global candy company, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Mars, Nestlé, or L’Oréal, are not just buying ingredients — you are indirectly funding armed factions controlling your supply!

Gold: Another Layer of Risk

Gold in Sudan functions similarly. Artisanal mines, particularly in Darfur and Kordofan, are under RSF or SAF control. Much of the gold ends up in Dubai or other Gulf markets, often through companies connected to the UAE.

If your company invests in gold, refines it, or uses it in electronics or jewelry, part of your supply chain may finance conflict — much like gum Arabic.

This is no longer an abstract issue. Procurement decisions are entangled with a war economy, with financiers and intermediaries actively shaping who controls the market.

A Global Candy Company Learns a Hard Lesson

Now, imagine yourself at the helm of your candy company, three years into this war in Sudan. The boardroom conversations are no longer about flavor profiles or packaging; they are about which faction controls your supply of Gum Arabic. You decide to fund the RSF to secure your gum Arabic. Across town, your competitors are quietly backing the SAF to gain access to theirs.

Contracts that once seemed ironclad now fail unpredictably. Prices spike without warning. Shipments vanish or are delayed by days, even weeks, because roads are blocked, checkpoints are manned by militias, and border crossings operate under fear rather than schedules.

You start to understand that what you are managing is no longer just procurement. You are negotiating access in a war zone, making decisions that ripple far beyond your factory walls. Each payment you authorize to ensure safe passage is, in effect, funding one of Sudan’s armed factions — a reality that hits harder when you realize it is not just your candy at stake, but gum Arabic for soft drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, candies for Mars and Nestlé, and even ingredients in cosmetics for L’Oréal.

Now zoom out. Picture every company that relies on Sudanese gum Arabic or gold — pharmaceuticals, soft drinks, baked goods, electronics, jewelry — each making similar choices, each caught in this web. Suddenly, Sudan’s conflict is not a distant headline; it is present in the shelves of stores around the world, in drinks, sweets, and luxury products that millions consume every day.

Your procurement team is no longer a department handling orders and contracts. They are managing risk, ethics, and geopolitics, often without the luxury of certainty. Every decision could ripple across industries, regions, and, tragically, lives.

Implications

The lessons are as stark as they are uncomfortable. First, supply-chain resilience becomes more than a strategic objective — it is a lifeline. You cannot simply switch suppliers because Sudan controls the vast majority of gum Arabic. Alternatives exist, but they are expensive, insufficient, or logistically challenging.

Second, due diligence and ethical sourcing are no longer abstract policies on paper. Companies must deeply understand where their raw materials come from, and whether payments and contracts are inadvertently financing violence.

Finally, policy and enforcement emerge as critical. Governments, multilateral institutions, and NGOs have a role to play in regulating trade, monitoring supply chains, and ensuring that companies can source responsibly without inadvertently becoming participants in a conflict economy.

In short, what began as a straightforward exercise in procurement — making gummies, stabilizing sodas, producing lipsticks — becomes a lesson in global interconnectedness, responsibility, and the unforeseen human stakes hidden in supply chains.

Conclusion: From Gummies to Geopolitics

In the end, what started as a lesson in procuring ingredients for your candy company evolves into a broader understanding of global interdependence and ethical responsibility. Sudan’s conflict is not distant; it is woven into the products we consume every day — from soft drinks to chocolates, from cosmetics to electronics.

Your procurement team, once concerned only with price, quantity, and delivery, now navigates a complex moral and geopolitical landscape. Every contract, every payment, every shipment becomes a negotiation with the realities of war, backed by financiers, armed factions, and international actors.

The war in Sudan teaches a profound lesson: global supply chains are not neutral. They are conduits of both commerce and consequence. Understanding who controls resources, who benefits from their trade, and how that intersects with conflict is essential — not just for business success, but for ethical stewardship in a connected world.

Your gummies, your cola, your lipstick, your electronics — they are more than consumer goods. They are a lens into the tangled, often invisible, economic forces that shape human lives on the other side of the globe!