Post #171

🇦🇪UAE: Neocolonial Power or Intermediary [ #InterestsAndAssets ] UAE's Interests in Africa's Gold ⏩ Have you ever wondered why Switzerland is associated with gold and jewels? 🔸For decades, Switzerland was a place where the business interests of rivals could meet. Nazi Germany and the Allies, then NATO and the USSR, all found a neutral marketplace there. ⏩ Today that kind of place is Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. In 2024 alone the UAE imported 748 tonnes of gold from African countries which almost matches the entire volume of Africa's official gold production. Let’s look at where exactly African gold in the UAE comes from. 🔸First, there are legal Emirati investments in a number of major gold producers in Mali, Sudan and Ghana. The key projects are: 🔸Sadiola complex, Mali — UAE-linked Ambrosia Investment Holding holds 50% of Allied Gold’s operations at the Sadiola gold mine in the eastern Mali. 🔸Asante Gold, Ghana — UAE-linked Fujairah Holding and Emiral Resources hold significant shares of Bibiani and Chirano gold mines in Ghana. 🔸Alliance for Mining, Sudan — UAE-linked Emiral Resources’ subsidiary operates the country’s largest gold mine in Sudan’s in Red Sea State. 🔸Second, there is almostlegal international trade The UAE provides excellent conditions for gold trading - there is practically no transparency and compliance with international standards. Many governments use this quite openly and officially - at UAE refineries, gold from Rwanda (from the DRC) is found along with sanctioned gold from Russia. 🔸Finally, criminal networks The light-touch environment does not only benefit clever governments. It also helps armed groups who seize gold and buy weapons with the proceeds. One way to spot this is a gap between what Country X says it exported and what Dubai says it imported from Country X. The biggest gaps show up in: 🔸 Mali - 95 t 🔸 Ghana - 85 t 🔸 Niger - 45 t 🔸 Nigeria - 40 t 🔸 Uganda - 35 t ⏩ Sometimes the UAE even supports the insurgents itself - only over the last weeks we’ve learned a lot about how interested Emirati groups support the RSF in Sudan and the Islamists in Mali, from whom the UAE bought two hostages for $50-70 million. None of this means the UAE is the mastermind of a new colonial project, though. It shows that big business and organized crime always find it easier to meet in places where undercover affairs are allowed If the UAE didn't exist, another small, but trade-loving country would take its place. Devils Below