Newly issued Sudanese banknotes have entered circulation across paramilitary-controlled Darfur, establishing a rogue monetary system that experts warn locks in a permanent economic partition of the war-torn nation.
The uncirculated 500 and 1,000-pound notes, backdated to May 2022, flooded markets in Nyala this month. They bear the signature of Hussein Yahya Jangoul, the pre-war central bank chief.
Jangoul was appointed governor of a rival central bank on May 21 by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)-backed “Tasis” government, expanding a parallel banking footprint designed to bypass army blockades.
The cash injection effectively neutralizes an offensive by the army-led government in Port Sudan, which recently invalidated old notes to freeze trillions in allegedly looted currency held by the RSF.
This monetary split follows the May 11 creation of an unrecognized Transitional Currency Council and the January launch of “Future Bank,” an electronic financial exchange platform built to process paramilitary salaries.
Civilians face a chaotic dual-currency reality. Banknotes authorized in government-held territories are actively banned by the RSF, while the central bank condemns the paramilitary notes as illegal counterfeits.
The escalating monetary divergence has collapsed trust in the local pound. Desperate merchants increasingly reject domestic paper entirely, forcing border commerce to rely on Chadian francs, South Sudanese pounds, or U.S. dollars.
Economic data reveals immense strain. Prior to the cash injection, localized banking blackouts and account freezes forced local traders to charge predatory conversion fees reaching up to 40% on digital transfers.
The parallel financial institutions threaten the legal unity of the state. Unbacked cash printing risks triggering localized hyperinflation while complicating future political reintegration by splitting a single sovereign economy into two hostile networks.
