Sudanese Banks with Foreign Shareholdings: Between the Need for Openness and Legitimate Concerns

Sudanhorizon – Nazik Shammam

In May 2025, the Sudanese government announced that it was severing relations with the United Arab Emirates over Abu Dhabi’s alleged support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, which had prevented the rebellion from being brought to an end and inflicted severe damage on the country’s infrastructure. At the time, questions were raised among the Sudanese public about Bankak, the country’s most popular banking application, operated by the Bank of Khartoum, in which Emirati investors hold a stake of more than 40%.
The issue brought foreign shareholdings in Sudanese banks into the spotlight, along with concerns about their impact on the country’s post-war economy and the risks posed by their considerable influence over Sudan’s banking sector.
Sudan has 38 banks, comprising state-owned banks, privately owned national banks, banks with both domestic and foreign shareholders, and foreign banks. Among them, the Bank of Khartoum and Faisal Islamic Bank are the most prominent.
Faisal Islamic Bank of Sudan is the country’s oldest bank with foreign shareholdings. It officially commenced operations in 1979, with Saudi Arabian shareholders holding 78% of its shares and Sudanese shareholders the remaining 22%.
The Bank of Khartoum, meanwhile, is one of Sudan’s most widespread banks, with many branches across the country’s states and cities.
According to the bank’s official website, 42% of its shares are owned by entities from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the wider Middle East. Dubai Islamic Bank, its largest shareholder, is among them, along with the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, and Sharjah Islamic Bank. The remaining shares are held by prominent Sudanese businessmen and investors.

Divergent Digital Islands

Banking expert Dr Luay Abdel Moneim believes Sudan’s banking system—which comprises around 38 commercial, specialised and foreign banks—has become three distinct digital islands rather than an integrated, competitive market.
Speaking to Sudanhorizon, Abdel Moneim noted that International Monetary Fund data indicate that foreign banks registered as branches account for about 23% of the sector’s assets. Their owners come from the Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan and other countries.
Gulf Dominance in Sudanese Banks
He said the most prominent model in Sudan is “joint banks”, which operate under Sudanese licences and identities but are dominated by Gulf ownership and capital.
The economist explained that the Bank of Khartoum is the clearest example. In 2005, 60% of its government-owned shares were sold to Dubai Islamic Bank as part of the privatisation policies pursued at the time. The bank also received substantial investments from the Islamic Development Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank.
He revealed that the Bank of Khartoum holds an estimated 17.3% to 18% of the banking sector’s assets. Some non-exhaustive estimates suggest that it holds around 80% of Sudanese deposits, making it a backbone of everyday economic activity.

Alarming Facts

Abdel Moneim pointed out that the sudden disruption of the Bankak application in early September 2026 exposed an alarming reality: Sudanese people’s daily economy had become dependent on “three digital lifelines, the most prominent and consequential of which is the Bankak application”.
He stressed that the effective solution does not lie in hostility towards foreign banks, whose partnerships and capital are essential for reconstruction and for bringing in technology and expertise. Rather, it requires fundamental structural reform to break monopolies and protect the financial system.

Reform Mechanisms

Abdel Moneim said the proposed reforms should separate payment infrastructure from individual banks and place the digital transfer network under the ownership and operation of a joint entity comprising the Central Bank of Sudan and the Union of Banks. Under such an arrangement, Bankak would become simply one competing commercial application operating within a neutral network.
He also highlighted the importance of interoperability between digital wallets, enabling money transfers through mobile phone numbers rather than requiring bank account numbers alone. This would expand citizens’ options and reduce dependence on any single bank.
Abdel Moneim further emphasised the need to impose strict market-share limits, require major institutions to open their infrastructure to competitors, and mandate transparency in publishing active-deposit figures.

Capital Crises

For her part, Dr Marwa Fouad Qabbani, an expert in strategic planning and digital transformation, stressed that foreign shareholdings in Sudanese banks are neither a magic solution to be accepted unconditionally nor a threat to be rejected outright. Rather, they are an economic instrument that requires a precise regulatory framework to support banking-sector recovery while avoiding additional risks.
Speaking to Sudanhorizon, Qabbani explained that the banking sector urgently needs capital, expertise, and technology, as well as strong supervisory institutions and clear ownership rules to protect depositors’ money.
She noted that the real challenge is ensuring new investments genuinely strengthen banks’ capacity to provide financing and develop their operations, rather than merely changing ownership structures without addressing capital shortfalls or governance problems.

Legitimate Questions

Qabbani called for a shift in banking policy, from asking, “Who owns the bank?” to “What does the investor bring to the table?” She also stressed the need to consider how savers’ money is protected and the investment’s impact on the national economy.
She explained that the next phase requires a balance built on carefully managed investment openness, effective banking supervision and stringent protection of savings, ensuring that capital is channelled towards economic recovery and sustainable development.
Prominent Board-Level Figures
Banking expert Ayman Ahmed, meanwhile, emphasised the importance of long-term foreign investment in the banking sector, saying it benefits the economy by facilitating the transfer of expertise, knowledge, and international best practices.
However, in comments to Sudanhorizon, Ahmed urged the relevant authorities to pay close attention to the expertise and standing of foreign representatives appointed to banks’ boards of directors. He said that no proposed nominee should be accepted without first establishing the value they would add and their standing in their home country.
He explained that when banks such as Faisal Islamic Bank were established, representation was at the highest level, including Prince Mohammed Al-Faisal himself and the late Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel.
Ahmed noted that internationally respected and influential figures help strengthen confidence among correspondent banks and facilitate access to external credit lines.

Lack of Information

Ahmed pointed out that one of Sudan’s most significant problems is the lack of information, compounded by the authorities’ failure to give sufficient attention to databases. He noted that banks do not regularly publish their annual reports and that no one holds them accountable for it.
Addressing the participation of Emirati investors in the Bank of Khartoum amid strained relations between Sudan and the UAE, he observed that the Bank of Khartoum has a branch in the UAE, as does the Bank of the Two Niles (Nilein Bank), and that both are subject to the supervisory and regulatory requirements there.
He asked whether this could provide an avenue for Sudanese influence in the UAE. He also pointed to major Sudanese companies listed on Emirati stock exchanges.
Ahmed stressed the need to improve the quality of supervisory and regulatory practices, as countries worldwide do, rather than focus on shareholders’ nationalities.

Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=18915