Sudanese Banks and the Post-War Opportunity: Can We Turn a Cash-Based Economy into a Digital Economy?

Dr Marwa Fouad Qabbani
In the Sudanese economy, battered by war, inflation and market instability, the question is no longer whether we need electronic banking services. The more pressing question is: why are Sudanese banks not investing quickly enough to attract customers and turn the needs created by post-war circumstances into a strategic opportunity to build an economy less dependent on cash?
Sudan is now facing an exceptional economic and banking moment. High inflation has eroded purchasing power, while cash transactions have become more costly and risky. At the same time, the war has disrupted large parts of the traditional banking infrastructure, forcing citizens to seek alternative ways to transfer and receive money and pay for daily needs.
Digital transformation is even more important in such a challenging inflationary environment. Inflation in Sudan rose to around 170% in 2024, according to World Bank data, while the International Monetary Fund expects consumer price inflation to reach approximately 75.1% in 2026.
In such an environment, the speed at which money circulates, ease of access to funds, reduced risks associated with carrying cash, and the availability of secure payment methods are essential to protecting economic activity, rather than being merely a technological luxury.
37 Banks… and a Banking Market Looking for the Digital Customer
According to the Central Bank of Sudan’s published list of operating banks, the banking system currently comprises 37 banks. In February 2026, the Central Bank also issued a new capital regulation classifying banks as commercial, specialised and digital, and setting the minimum paid-up capital for digital banks at SDG 140 billion. This confirms that digitalisation has become part of the regulatory vision for the future of the banking sector.
This raises an important question: if we have this number of banks, why are we not seeing greater competition for the digital customer?
Banking competition in the next phase should not be measured solely by the number of branches or ATMs, but by the number of digitally active customers, the number of electronic transactions, the volume of digital payments, the number of merchants accepting electronic payments, and customers’ satisfaction with banking applications and digital services.
According to the published data available to us, no unified official statistic shows the number of active banking applications across all Sudanese banks or the number of users of each application. This is itself an information gap that needs to be addressed, because measuring digital transformation requires regularly published indicators.
More Than 100 Million Electronic Transactions… The Figure That Should Capture Banks’ Attention
The figures available from Electronic Banking Services (EBS) provide an important indication of changing user behaviour. The company announced that more than 100 million account-to-account (A2A) electronic transfer transactions were carried out between January and May 2026, alongside efforts to restore the national payment switch and comprehensive settlement system. It also indicated that its infrastructure connects 26 banks within Sudan.
These figures do not merely demonstrate the success of the infrastructure; they convey a broader economic and banking message:
There is genuine demand for electronic transactions. The opportunity, therefore, is no longer about proving that citizens can use digital services, but about banks competing to make such use part of their customers’ daily lives.
So Where Is the Problem?
Is the problem with marketing departments?
Is it a lack of vision among executive management?
Is it the high cost of marketing?
Is it a shortage of qualified personnel?
Or are some electronic banking applications and services simply not attractive enough?
In my view, the problem does not lie in a single factor. Rather, it reflects a comprehensive strategic gap. Some banks may still regard the banking application as a “technological product” provided by the IT department, whereas it should be a primary banking channel and a platform for managing the customer relationship.
This difference in thinking changes everything.
If the application is regarded as a technological product, its success is measured by whether it works. But if it is regarded as a strategic banking channel, its success is measured by the number of active customers, the number of transactions, the value of transactions, customer retention rates, and the proportion of customers moving from branches to digital channels.
Banking Marketing Needs Radical Change
It is not enough for banks to tell customers: “Download the app.” Customers want to know: What will I gain?
Can I transfer money easily?
Can I pay for my purchases?
Can I send and receive money without carrying cash?
Will the service work when internet connectivity is poor?
Can I access the service using a conventional mobile phone?
This is where expanding simplified channels becomes important. In March 2026, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Communications announced the availability of banking services through USSD, in coordination with the Central Bank of Sudan, allowing person-to-person transfers, balance enquiries, and certain other transactions without a conventional internet connection.
This is an important step because digital transformation in Sudan should not be synonymous exclusively with smartphones and mobile applications.
True digital transformation means making services accessible to customers regardless of their technological circumstances.
From a Banking App to a Digital Economic Ecosystem
The application alone will not solve the problem. We need an integrated ecosystem:
Bank account → App or USSD → Electronic transfer → Merchant → POS or QR → Electronic settlement.
If citizens can transfer money through an application but, when they reach the market, cannot find merchants who accept electronic payments, they will return to cash.
Banks should therefore redirect a significant proportion of their marketing budgets away from simply advertising their applications and towards building networks that accept digital payments.
Banks can compete here to attract merchants, pharmacies, hospitals, petrol stations, schools, universities, transport companies, shops, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Inflation Makes Digital Transformation a Necessity, Not a Luxury
In an inflationary environment, electronic payments should not be viewed merely as a matter of convenience. The faster and more efficiently money moves, the better the economy functions, and the less reliant citizens become on holding large amounts of cash.
A digital economy also gives banks greater opportunities to understand money flows and customer behaviour, develop more appropriate products, improve risk management, and strengthen financial inclusion.
Accordingly, currency replacement and banking sector restructuring should not be treated as separate from digital transformation. Rather, the currency replacement process could serve as a strategic transition point from an economy heavily dependent on cash to one in which electronic payments and transfers are increasingly widespread.
What Banks Need to Do Now
I believe every bank needs to develop a 12-month digital strategy containing measurable targets, most importantly:
Determine the number of customers targeted for conversion into digital customers.
Increase the number of monthly electronic transactions.
Reduce customers’ reliance on branches for simple transactions.
Expand the network of merchants and points accepting electronic payments.
Develop simpler and more stable applications.
Provide alternatives such as USSD for customers who cannot regularly access the internet.
Use customer data for intelligent marketing.
Develop digital customer-service capabilities.
Invest in cybersecurity and account protection.
Link digital transformation indicators directly to executive management performance.
Most importantly, measure results monthly.
The Coming Competition Is Not About Branches
Banking competition in post-war Sudan will not simply be about which bank can reopen its branches fastest. It will be about which bank can own the digital relationship with its customers.
The bank that enables customers to receive money, transfer funds, pay obligations, make purchases, and monitor accounts without carrying cash or visiting a branch will be best placed to build a long-term banking relationship.
And this is not simply about technology. It is about executive vision, marketing, human resources, customer experience, merchants, infrastructure, security and regulation.
Sudan now has important indicators pointing to the possibility of moving into a new phase. Dozens of banks, a national payments infrastructure, millions of electronic transactions, expanding digital channels, and a clear regulatory direction toward digital banking support this.
But the real challenge is to turn this infrastructure into everyday financial behaviour among citizens.
This is why the question bank management should be asking is not: How much have we spent on marketing?
It should be: How many new customers have we attracted digitally? How many cash transactions have we converted into electronic transactions? And how many merchants have begun accepting digital payments?
If banks can answer these questions with figures, then we will genuinely have begun building post-war banking.
But if the application remains merely an icon on the customer’s phone, while branches remain the centre of banking activity, the opportunity presented by digital transformation will continue to outpace the sector’s ability to capitalise on it.
The next phase does not merely require banks to restore their services. It requires banks to redefine banking services themselves.
Dr Marwa Fouad Qabbani
Strategic Planning and Digital Transformation Expert.

Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=18694