Surviving in Sudan today means returning to basics. With the banking system in ruins after more than two years of war, many people are relying on barter and IOUs to secure essentials.
“I haven’t held a banknote in more than nine months,” said Ali, a civil servant in Dilling, South Kordofan state. The town has been besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been fighting the army since April 2023.
Across Dilling and other conflict-hit areas, clothing, household appliances, and other goods are being used as currency to obtain staples like flour or rice, or even fuel for vehicles and generators.
“I once exchanged a hoe and a chair for three bags of sorghum,” said Ali, 33.
With cash scarce and much of Sudan under total communication blackouts, the barter system has become a lifeline.
“Motorcycle and tuk-tuk drivers are paid with oil and soap,” said local volunteer Al-Sadiq Issa. “Some families trade corn, flour, or sugar for services like vehicle maintenance.”
When fighting engulfed Khartoum at the start of the war, the Central Bank—connected to the global SWIFT interbank network—was set ablaze and occupied by paramilitary forces for nearly two years. Banks were looted, safes emptied, and the economy collapsed. One euro, once worth 450 Sudanese pounds, now fetches 3,500 on the black market.
Digital transactions: A fragile lifeline
Before the war, Sudan appeared poised for a financial transformation. Economic sanctions, imposed since 1997 over alleged support for Islamist groups, were gradually lifted, and digital transactions via apps like Bankak, owned by the Bank of Khartoum, were gaining traction in urban areas. Only 15 percent of Sudanese had bank accounts at the time, according to the World Bank.
“Sudan’s financial sector was on the cusp of major reform, moving toward an open-market approach similar to Kenya, Tanzania, and Ghana,” said William Cook, an expert at the Washington-based Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). “Unfortunately, the conflict has halted much of this progress.”
The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 12 million, and triggered what the UN calls the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises. In RSF-controlled areas, law and order have collapsed, and looting and extortion are rampant.
“Having cash puts you in danger,” said grocer Dafallah Ibrahim in Omdurman, which the army retook in spring. For residents in army-held cities with a secure connection, the Bankak app remains a crucial lifeline, enabling receipt of salaries, aid from relatives abroad, and humanitarian funds. But those trapped under sieges, like in South Kordofan’s Kadugli, must find workarounds.
Fraud and informal credit
Merchant Abdelrahman relies on an honor system, recording debts in a notebook and telling customers: “You can pay when Bankak works again.” Where local telecom infrastructure failed, smuggled Starlink satellite antennas provided internet access—sometimes controlled by RSF fighters, who took commissions of up to 25 percent for digital transactions.
Digital banking also requires a bank account, a passport, and a phone—resources many rural Sudanese lack. People often must trust neighbors or acquaintances to receive transfers, leaving them vulnerable if money goes missing.
In response, the Bank of Khartoum allowed remote account openings and acceptance of expired ID documents in December last year. But the army’s introduction of new banknotes in areas under its control has further fragmented Sudan’s monetary system.
Today, Sudan is effectively divided: army-controlled regions in the north, east, and center, and RSF-controlled areas in the west and south, leaving millions reliant on barter, trust, and community networks to survive.
AFP
