Surviving in Sudan now means returning to the most basic forms of trade as the banking system lies in ruins after more than two years of war, forcing people to rely on barter and handwritten IOUs to secure food, fuel and other essentials.

 

 

 

“I haven’t held a banknote in more than nine months,” said Ali, a civil servant in Dilling, South Kordofan, a town besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been fighting the army since April 2023. Clothing, furniture and household items have become substitutes for currency. “I once exchanged a hoe and a chair for three bags of sorghum,” the 33-year-old said.

 

With cash unavailable and communication systems down across much of the country, residents are improvising. “Motorcycle and tuk-tuk drivers are given oil and soap as payment for fares,” said local volunteer Al-Sadiq Issa. “Some families offer corn, flour, or sugar in exchange for things like vehicle maintenance.” The collapse began in the early days of the war, when the Central Bank, connected to the SWIFT international banking system, was set ablaze during fighting and later occupied by RSF fighters for almost two years. Banks were looted, safes emptied, and the currency spiralled into worthlessness. One euro, once 450 Sudanese pounds, now sells for 3,500 on the black market.

 

 

Wherever telecoms infrastructure collapsed, smuggled Starlink satellite internet antennas began appearing, often controlled by the RSF, and rented out by the hour. The military banned their use in December 2024, but many remained in operation. When the RSF controlled Khartoum, the paramilitary group “took up to 25 percent commission” to provide cash in exchange for a Bankak transfer, civil servant Youssef Ahmed recalled.

 

 

 

Even digital transactions require a bank account, passport and working phone, items many Sudanese no longer possess. In rural areas, people rely on trusted neighbours to receive transfers on their behalf, but have no legal protection if that money disappears. The Bank of Khartoum attempted to ease access by allowing remote account opening and the use of expired identity documents, yet fragmentation deepened when pro-army authorities introduced new banknotes in territories they controlled.

 

 

 

Sudan is now effectively split in two: army-controlled areas in the north, east and centre, and RSF-controlled regions across the west and south. In this divided landscape, for millions of Sudanese, survival depends not on money, but on whatever they can trade, exchange or promise, and on the fragile trust that still holds their communities together.