Digitalization: Sudan’s Path to Combating Corruption and Easing Citizens’ Lives
Al-Tahir Satti
The introduction of money transfers through represents another success for the and its hardworking minister, .
The service enables citizens to complete transactions and pay their bills with ease—from any mobile phone and without the need for internet access, as it operates directly through the phone’s SIM card.
Credit is therefore due to Ghandour and his team as they push Sudan toward digitalization, despite the pressures of war, poverty, and scarce resources.
We support every effort undertaken by this young minister and his team. Digitalization is the antidote to corruption, bureaucracy, and the arrogance of civil servants who exploit citizens. It is the real reform the civil service needs—transforming it into a system that is agile, effective, and aligned with modern developments.
Sudan was once among the first countries to abolish paper bills for electricity, water, and other services, reallocating fee-collection employees to other duties. The logical next step should have been to move toward a fully integrated e-government.
But the process stalled—not only because of the war. Powerful and corrupt interests embedded within the civil service have actively resisted the shift to electronic government. Sudan must resume the journey from where others have already advanced.
The investment sector urgently needs digitalization that can shorten procedures for investors, protect public funds, and curb corruption. The service sector also requires digital systems that spare citizens the hardship of transportation and the gloom of dealing with idle bureaucrats.
Young people must be injected into the arteries of the state and into the kitchens of decision-making. Sudan is a young country, where the youth constitute the largest share of the population. State institutions therefore need new energy, youthful minds, and ideas capable of keeping pace with the transformations of our time.
