Survival in Sudan has reverted to ancient trade practices as more than two years of conflict have left the banking system in ruins, forcing residents to rely on barter exchanges and handwritten credit ledgers to obtain food, fuel and other necessities.
Ali, a civil servant in Dilling, South Kordofan, said he hasn’t touched physical currency in over nine months. The town remains under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have battled government troops since April 2023. Residents now use clothing, furniture and household goods as substitutes for money. The 33 year old civil servant recalled trading agricultural tools and a chair for three bags of sorghum.
With banknotes unavailable and telecommunications networks down across most regions, citizens are finding creative solutions. Local volunteer Al-Sadiq Issa explained that motorcycle and motorized tricycle drivers now accept oil and soap as fare payment. Some households trade corn, flour or sugar to cover vehicle repair costs.
The financial collapse began when early fighting destroyed the Central Bank in Khartoum, which connected Sudan to the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) international banking network. The building was set ablaze and subsequently occupied by RSF fighters for nearly two years. Banks were ransacked, vaults emptied, and the national currency lost virtually all purchasing power. One euro, previously worth 450 Sudanese pounds, now trades at 3,500 on black markets.
Before hostilities erupted, Sudan appeared poised to rejoin global financial systems following years of international sanctions. Only 15 percent of citizens held bank accounts at that time, according to World Bank data, but digital payment platforms were rapidly expanding. The Bankak mobile application, operated by the Bank of Khartoum, was gaining widespread adoption in urban centers.
William Cook of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor noted that Sudan’s financial sector stood on the verge of major transformation toward more open market structures similar to those in Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana. The outbreak of war halted that progress entirely.
The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced approximately 12 million people, and created what United Nations officials describe as the world’s largest hunger and displacement emergencies. Across territories under RSF control, law enforcement has completely broken down and looting has become widespread.
Grocer Dafallah Ibrahim in Omdurman, the capital’s twin city recaptured by the army earlier this year, said carrying cash creates serious danger. For residents in government controlled areas who can secure internet connections, the Bankak platform has become essential, enabling them to receive salaries, international remittances and humanitarian assistance.
However, those trapped under communication blackouts and paramilitary sieges, such as residents of Kadugli, the South Kordofan capital, must rely on informal arrangements. Merchant Abdelrahman maintains a handwritten honor system for extending credit to customers. He records their debts in a notebook and tells them they can settle accounts when Bankak service resumes.
Where telecommunications infrastructure collapsed, smuggled Starlink satellite internet antennas began appearing, frequently controlled by the RSF and rented hourly. Sudan’s military banned their operation in December 2024, though many units remained active. Civil servant Youssef Ahmed recalled that when the RSF held Khartoum, the paramilitary force extracted commissions up to 25 percent to convert Bankak digital transfers into physical cash.
Digital transactions require bank accounts, valid identification documents and functioning mobile devices, items many Sudanese citizens no longer possess. In rural communities, people depend on trusted neighbors to receive electronic transfers on their behalf, but have no legal recourse if those funds vanish.
The Bank of Khartoum attempted to improve access by permitting remote account creation and accepting expired identity papers. Yet financial fragmentation deepened when pro government authorities introduced new banknotes in territories they controlled, while the RSF continued using older currency versions in areas under their command.
Sudan now exists as two effectively separate economic zones: army controlled territories in the north, east and center, and RSF controlled regions spanning the west and south. Within this divided landscape, survival for millions of Sudanese depends not on money but on whatever goods they can trade, exchange or pledge, and on the fragile trust networks that continue binding their communities together.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs launched a six billion dollar humanitarian and refugee response plan in February 2025 to address the crisis. As of August 2025, approximately 14 million people had been displaced within Sudan or to neighboring countries, with roughly 26 million facing acute hunger representing half the population.
Sudan’s economy has experienced one of the steepest contractions in recent history. Real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted an estimated 29.4 percent in 2023 and a further 14 percent in 2024, driven by infrastructure destruction concentrated in Khartoum, the nation’s economic and financial center. Government revenues collapsed from 10 percent of GDP in 2022 to below 5 percent in 2024, severely limiting the state’s ability to provide essential services.
