From Microfinance to Financial Inclusion… Sudan Takes a Step Towards More Inclusive and Just Development (1)

Hiba Mahmoud Sadiq Farid

“Structural transformation within the Central Bank of Sudan marks the starting point for an inclusive financial system that embraces everyone and strengthens the integration of monetary, agricultural, and industrial policies to reinforce the real economy and support sustainable development.”
It appears that the Central Bank of Sudan has finally received the right signal by deciding to transform the Microfinance Unit into a General Directorate for Financial Inclusion. This step is not merely an administrative adjustment—it is a genuine declaration of intent to move toward a new, fairer, more inclusive economic model.
Experts and practitioners in finance and development have long awaited this shift. It represents a transition from fragmented initiatives towards an integrated national vision—one that places the citizen at the heart of the financial system, not on its margins.
It is only fair to acknowledge that the idea of financial inclusion did not emerge today. It is the outcome of a long process that began with the formation of the National Steering Committee and the establishment of the Microfinance Unit under the leadership of the late Ms Ishraqa Darrar—may God rest her soul—who laid the first foundations of this national endeavour. During my tenure as head of the Unit in the last two years of the Central Bank’s Microfinance Development Strategy (2007–2011), we called for the development of a national policy for financial inclusion that would be translated into practical strategies across the Central Bank, Ministry of Telecommunications, Ministry of Finance, and other related institutions—each with clear, mandate-specific roles in implementing financial inclusion.
Today, with the transition to a General Directorate for Financial Inclusion and its expanded mandate, we see the early results of those first efforts taking shape—forming a new institutional pathway that offers hope for building an inclusive and just financial system that serves the real economy.
Since 2007, the Microfinance Unit has played a pioneering role in supporting low-income groups and enabling them to access finance.
Yet, despite the Central Bank’s important achievements in developing the microfinance sector and supporting youth, women, and small producers through model projects—such as linking small farmers to markets and analysing value chains for hibiscus and other commodities—the economic and social impact of these efforts has not matched the level of ambition or the scale of resources invested. The core reason lies in the lack of alignment between the Central Bank’s monetary policies and sectoral policies—investment, fiscal, agricultural, and industrial. The Central Bank’s steps advanced in one direction while sectoral policies moved at a different pace, resulting in outcomes that fell short of expectations.
From Concept to Institution… and from Institution to Vision
The shift towards a General Directorate for Financial Inclusion represents a move from initiatives to policy, and from projects to national programmes.
It presents an opportunity to rebuild trust between citizens and the banking system, to shift financial culture from cash hoarding to financial utilisation, and from consumption to production. If properly managed, the new Directorate can become a national coordination hub linking government institutions, banks, the private sector, and international organisations—towards one goal: a financial system that includes everyone and excludes no one.
Policy Integration: The Key to Real Transformation
The decision to establish a General Directorate for Financial Inclusion opens a real opportunity to build a comprehensive and sustainable financial system aligned with national development priorities. This step could serve as a new launch point toward an economy that includes all—through expanding access to formal banking services, strengthening digital finance, promoting financial literacy, and empowering women and youth to participate actively in production and growth.
Financial Inclusion as a National Imperative, Not an Institutional Luxury
Financial inclusion must be a national project—one that cannot be completed without harmonising monetary, fiscal, agricultural, and industrial policies within a comprehensive developmental vision.
Monetary policy alone cannot drive production if fiscal policy burdens producers with heavy taxes, or if agricultural and industrial policies fail to stimulate investment and create jobs.
This underscores the need for a unified national policy on financial inclusion, with the Central Bank playing a central role within an institutional framework that includes key ministries—Finance, Telecommunications, Agriculture, Industry—alongside the private sector and civil society.
Financial Inclusion as a Tool for Fair Opportunity Distribution and Restoring Trust
Financial inclusion is no longer merely a banking concept or a technical programme. It is now a national issue tied to economic justice and every citizen’s right to participate meaningfully in growth and development. Every individual should have access to financial services—bank accounts, suitable financing, insurance, and digital payment tools—to become an active contributor to the economic cycle and move from marginalisation to production.
Practical indicators measure financial inclusion:
Percentage of the population with active bank accounts or digital wallets
Availability of financial services in rural areas
Proportion of women and youth among beneficiaries
Levels of financial literacy and trust in the banking sector
These are not just numbers—they reflect the fairness of opportunity distribution. Societies that advance in financial inclusion invariably advance in social stability, reduce income gaps, and expand investment opportunities.
Technology and Telecommunications: The Beating Heart of Financial Inclusion
Banks alone no longer shape financial inclusion. Telecommunications companies and financial technology (FinTech) firms are now key partners. The mobile phone is closer to citizens than any bank branch, and every new digital wallet opened represents a window of opportunity for another household entering the financial system.
The success of the Financial Inclusion Directorate, therefore, requires smart partnerships between the Central Bank, the banking sector, and telecommunications companies—expanding mobile money, linking digital payments to government and private services, and building a nationwide digital financial network.
Digital transformation is not merely a technical option—it is a developmental necessity enabling access for groups that traditional services have long failed to reach.
The Missing Link: A National MSME Development Agency
Within the integrated vision for financial inclusion, the urgent need emerges for a National Agency for the Development of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)—to form the third pillar of the financial inclusion system alongside the Central Bank and the Ministry of Telecommunications.
Establishing such an agency would balance finance, policy, and production—ensuring that financial inclusion becomes a tool for creating real jobs and expanding local production, not merely extending credit.
The agency would:
Develop macro policies supporting MSME finance
Promote entrepreneurship
Build administrative and technical capacities
Conduct necessary surveys and studies
Link finance with innovation and production
Connect small producers to markets
Facilitate access to domestic and regional markets
Conditions for Success and Features of the Roadmap
To ensure the new Directorate’s success, the roadmap must include:
Strong institutional will backed by political leadership
A precise national database identifying financially excluded groups
Expansion of digital and telecommunications infrastructure
Strengthening financial literacy through education and media
Encouraging digital financial innovation (FinTech)
Modern regulations that protect consumers and promote trust
National and international partnerships to transfer knowledge and share best practices
Conclusion
Financial inclusion is Sudan’s gateway to the economy of the future. It will not be achieved without sincere national will and an integrated development vision that transforms this initiative from an administrative project into a state-led national strategy.
Experience has shown that expanding financial services without production, financing without coherent policies, and digital applications without trust and awareness will not produce development or justice. Only a unified national financial inclusion policy—supported by an effective MSME Development Agency—can move Sudan from short-lived initiatives to deep economic transformation.
Financial inclusion is not the end of the journey, but its beginning—an entry point to an economy where growth emerges from the grassroots, justice from participation, and opportunity from a unified national purpose.

Former Head of the Microfinance Unit, Central Bank of Sudan

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