The Sudanese News Agency reported on Tuesday that Sudan, the producer of gold, is taking steps to open the trade of the precious metal more to private investors, to allow them to take over all exports of gold.
The agency added that a circular approved on Tuesday prohibited government agencies from exporting gold and opened the door for trade in it to private companies, provided that they met conditions including payment of taxes and royalties.
Last November, Minister of Energy and Mining Adel Ibrahim said that Sudan produced about 93 tons of gold in 2018, a level that makes it the third largest producer in Africa after South Africa and Ghana, according to an American geological survey.
Regulations in January opened the door for private companies to export gold, but set the share of private companies ’exports at 70 percent of production, with the remainder sold to the central bank.
It is also required that exporters sell all the export proceeds of foreign exchange to the Central Bank at the official exchange rate, and at that time it was equivalent to about 45 Sudanese pounds to the dollar, which is about half the price on the black market.
This condition was not mentioned in the report of the Sudanese Agency.
The official price of the Sudanese currency fell to 55 pounds per dollar, while it fell on the black market to 146 pounds.
The new rules prohibit the central bank from buying gold entirely except for increasing official reserves, in which case it must be bought from the local market, according to the agency.
The agency added that traders can currently export gold from Khartoum International Airport and that the government will address other methods used in smuggling.