Sudan
Sudan's Banking Business (Organization) Act 2003 defines bank financing in Islamic forms and creates a Higher Sharia commission. Bank of Khartoum is on the Central Bank of Sudan's list of operating banks, and its own site offers Murabaha Financing.
Five checks
Banking rulesFound
The Banking Business (Organization) Act 2003 defines financing as the use of money in Islamic forms. Section 15 creates a Higher Sharia Commission of Control on Banks and Financial Institutions. The Central Bank of Sudan says the 2006 amendment of its Act set up a dual system, Islamic in the north and conventional in the south. In February 2021 the central bank governor announced a dual system allowing both Islamic and non-Islamic banking (The Sentry, citing Reuters). The rules for that were not found.
- “"Financing", means employment of money, in accordance with Islamic forms”
Central Bank of Sudan · 2003 - “Higher Sharia Commission of Control on Banks and Financial Institutions”
Central Bank of Sudan · 2003 - “The Sudanese banking system shall consist of dual banking system; one of which is Islamic, in Northern Sudan”
Central Bank of Sudan - “In February 2021, Zainelabidine announced the launch of a dual system allowing both Islamic and non-Islamic borrowing.”
The Sentry · 2021-10 · secondary
Licensed banks and windowsFound
- Bank of Khartoum · full bankMurabaha Financing
- Faisal Islamic Bank (Sudan) · full bank
- Sudanese Islamic Bank · full bank
- Tadamon Islamic Bank · full bank
- Qatar Islamic Bank (Sudan Branch) · full bank
- “Bank of Khartoum”
Central Bank of Sudan - “Murabaha is a type of Islamic financing where the Bank of Khartoum helps customers buy goods by agreeing on a fixed price”
Bank of Khartoum - “To be the best provider of Islamic financial solutions in a contemporary style”
Faisal Islamic Bank (Sudan)
Sukuk issuedNot checked
Takaful (non-interest insurance)Found
A country profile by the Federation of Afro-Asian Insurers and Reinsurers (FAIR) says all insurers in Sudan were converted to Sharia-based insurance under Finance Ministry Decree 219/1992, and that an Insurance and Takaful Act took effect in 2003. It names the Islamic Insurance Company and Shiekan Insurance among the largest insurers by 2020 premiums. The insurance regulator's own site was not reached, so this rests on a secondary source.
- “Implementation of the Insurance and Takaful Act 2003.”
Federation of Afro-Asian Insurers and Reinsurers (FAIR) · 2023 (file uploaded Aug 2023) · secondary - “as mandated by the Ministerial Decree of the Minister of Finance No 219/1992”
Federation of Afro-Asian Insurers and Reinsurers (FAIR) · 2023 (file uploaded Aug 2023) · secondary
Capital market rulesNot checked
Not checked: the securities regulator's and exchange's sites were not reached.
Recent developments
- 2021-02The central bank governor announced a dual system allowing both Islamic and non-Islamic banking (reported by The Sentry, citing Reuters, 21 Feb 2021). source
Still open
Points we could not confirm at source yet.
- The central bank list is undated. Given the war since April 2023 (the central bank now gives a Port Sudan address), which banks fully operate is not known.
- Has a conventional banking framework been issued since the February 2021 announcement? Not found. The central bank's 'Nature of the Banking System' page still describes the 2006 position.
- Faisal Islamic Bank's site shows news items from 2021; whether it is kept current was not checked.
- Government Musharaka Certificates and other sukuk-type instruments were not verified.
- The Insurance and Takaful Act 2003 and the regulator's licensed insurer list were not read at a primary source. Press (Dec 2021) says the regulator was considering revising the takaful law.
- Capital-market Islamic rules were not verified.
Where we searched
- cbos.gov.sd: Banking Business Act 2003 PDF, Nature of the Banking System, Operating Banks in Sudan (downloaded); 2024 and 2026 policy documents are scanned (earlier pass)
- bankofkhartoum.com: Murabaha page (downloaded)
- fib-sd.com: home, domestic trade finance and services pages (downloaded)
- thesentry.org briefing PDF (downloaded)
- ifsb.org members page: 403 (earlier pass)
- fair1964.org: FAIR Sudan country profile PDF (downloaded); web search for Sudanese takaful law and regulator (14 Nov 2026)