#𝐔𝐀𝐄

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 #𝐔𝐀𝐄’𝐬 𝐌𝐁𝐙 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐬 Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹’𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: Ethiopia holds significant gold reserves, especially near Sudan. Gold constituted over 95% of the $428 million mineral exports in 2023-24. However, official exports dropped from 12 tonnes in 2011-12 to 4.2 tonnes in 2023-24 due to illicit activities. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬: Gold from Ethiopia flows through Sudan, Eritrea, and Kenya to the UAE. In Sudan, profits fuel the war efforts of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces. 𝐔𝐀𝐄’𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞: The UAE is the top destination for smuggled gold. Between 2012-2022, 2,569 metric tonnes of undeclared gold from Africa, worth $115 billion, were smuggled there. UAE’s lax import laws and incentives for "scrap" gold make it ideal for smugglers.