Sudan: When Tasis breaks Khartoum’s monopoly and returns wealth to the peripheries

In a Sudan torn apart by war, the peace and unity government (Tasis) is deploying an economic vision that breaks radically with decades of centralisation. Its ambition: to transform the historically marginalised regions of Darfur and Kordofan into poles of production and prosperity by restoring control of their resources to them.

The Tasis project rests on a fundamental principle: ending the capture of peripheral wealth by the central elite. The transitional Constitution establishes an unprecedented redistribution mechanism: 70% of revenues from local resources gold, oil, agricultural products and customs duties remain in the producing region to directly finance its infrastructure, hospitals and education, without approval from the central administration. The remaining 30% feeds a national fund intended to correct imbalances between regions.

The country is divided into eight federal regions with full autonomy, each with its own ministries, legislative councils and executives. The central government is refocused on core sovereign functions alone: defence, diplomacy, currency and national standards.

From its base in Nyala, Darfur, Tasis is gradually building the machinery of a functional financial administration. In September 2026, Finance Minister John Carlo Koko began centralising South Darfur’s public revenues, establishing a unified treasury mechanism. The goal: to finance essential services education, health, security and pay teachers’ salaries, while ending fragmented accounts.

This approach is accompanied by a monetary revolution: Tasis has established a parallel central bank in Nyala, appointed a former central bank governor to head it, and introduced new Sudanese pound notes to ease the financial stranglehold imposed by Port Sudan. A money transfer application, “Future Money,” facilitates transactions in areas under its control.

On the ground, actions are multiplying to restore hope to the population. In West Kordofan, quality seeds and agricultural tools were distributed to hundreds of vulnerable farming families. The village of Julidat, built to host displaced families, is presented as the first in a series of projects: each household received seeds and tools, with the ambition of turning surrounding land into productive farms.

The Ministry of Trade has begun consultations with regional authorities in Kordofan to structure the local economy, add value to production (gum arabic, cotton, gold) and connect production basins to markets.

This economic rebuilding faces the absence of international recognition, which limits access to financing and world markets. Monetary fragmentation between East and West is an increasingly tangible reality. And above all, the war continues to devastate the country, making the consolidation of these nascent institutions uncertain.

Tasis is betting on one conviction: transforming territorial control into legitimate economic governance, where regional wealth finally benefits their populations. A bold wager, whose outcome will depend on the ability to durably pacify the country and convince others of the viability of its federal model.