According to a statement from Sudanese Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok, Africa’s third biggest gold producer, Sudan, is setting up a bourse for the precious metal and will standardize the price in accordance with the global rate.
In January, Sudan opened up private traders on gold export, a measure designed to crack down on smuggling and attract foreign currency into its cash-strapped treasury.
Ahead of the new regulations, the central bank bought gold at a discount to the international price. As a result, an estimated 70-80% of it was smuggled abroad, according to government officials, hurting the treasury’s coffers.
Sudan produced about 93 tons of gold in 2018, making it Africa’s third biggest producer after South Africa and Ghana, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The country is also setting up an investment fund for private sector donations, Hamdok’s statement adds.
In crisis since losing most of its oil wealth with the secession of the south in 2011, the country has experienced an acute shortage of foreign currency. The dollar rose to almost twice the official rate against the Sudanese pound on the black market this week.