Details of Hemeidti’s advisor’s involvement in a deal to steal gum arabic from Al-Nuhud

Follow-up: Nahid Oshi

Om Salama Abdel-Majid, Director General of the Gum Arabic Company, has called for investigations to be filed with the Economic Prosecution Office regarding the Rapid Support Forces.(RSF) militia’s ransacking of tons of gum arabic from Al-Nuhud market and its attempts to sell it on global markets via the militia leader’s advisor, Faris Al-Nour, using forged certificates of origin through the ports of Kenya and Cameroon.

Om Salama stressed the need to prosecute those responsible for the theft and smuggling of gum arabic through Chad to Cameroon, and then forging certificates of origin from Chad under the pretext of producing fake gum arabic in Chad. She praised France for refusing to recognize the Chadian certificate of origin, describing the French refusal as an opportunity to restore Sudan’s access to global markets. Om Salama accused the militia of smuggling gum arabic to Chad in a legal manner by forging the certificates of origin.

The Director General of the Gum Arabic Company revealed a decline in Sudan’s production of the product. She explained that Sudan used to export 85% of the world’s gum arabic production, but that this has now decreased to 75% due to legal smuggling.

For his part, Ahmed Al-Tayib (Ahmed Anan), Head of the Gum Arabic Exporters Division, revealed the type of gum looted from Al-Nuhud market. He stated that the plundered gum is of the Hashab variety, as Al-Nuhud is a Hashab region. Anan indicated that Sudan’s gum arabic exports range between 120,000 and 150,000 tons, 70% of which is Talha and 30% Hashab. He pointed out that the sector has been affected by the repercussions of the war, stating that production during the war did not exceed 50% to 60%.