Port Sudan emerges as Sudan’s digital lifeline amid conflict

Sudan’s protracted civil conflict has severely impacted nearly every sector of the economy, but few have suffered as acutely as the telecommunications sector, where destroyed infrastructure and losses totaling tens of millions of dollars have disrupted services nationwide and stalled development.

Across large parts of the country, fighting crippled fiber-optic networks, knocked out data centers and satellite stations, and forced operators to improvise under severe constraints. Yet even as connectivity has collapsed elsewhere, Sudan has remained partially online, largely because of the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

Once known primarily as the country’s main maritime gateway for trade and humanitarian aid, Port Sudan now has a new and critical role as the backbone of Sudan’s digital survival. With infrastructure in Khartoum and other states heavily damaged, international data traffic is now routed mainly through undersea cables near the city, supported by satellite backup systems designed for emergency use.

From Port Sudan, government offices, media organizations, humanitarian agencies, and millions of citizens rely on a fragile but essential flow of information. Engineers working there describe a daily struggle to keep networks running amid power shortages, security risks, and limited access to replacement equipment.

“We lost all three data transformers, the Tier-4 data center that provided hosting for the state government and institutions, and the Abu Haraz satellite station entirely,” said Mohammed Al-Rayeh Al-Toum, deputy director general and chief executive officer for operations at Sudani Company, one of the country’s main telecommunications providers. “The damage exceeded 70 million dollars. Despite this, we recovered and resumed operations by restoring the core data center, which is now fully operational and serving government bodies, private institutions, and citizens across Sudan.”

Behind the scenes, technical teams continuously reroute data and activate satellite links when fiber connections fail. Any prolonged disruption, engineers warn, could cut off entire regions from basic communications, banking services, and emergency coordination.

The sector’s resilience has had broader economic implications.

“The telecommunications sector has played a crucial role during the war, coordinating with banks despite the destruction of key equipment in Khartoum,” says Mohamed Alnaye, an economist based in Sudan. “Operations were temporarily moved to Port Sudan, with new equipment brought in from abroad to efficiently restore networks. This effort eased the economic impact, revitalized banking services, and strengthened both the telecom and banking sectors as the government resumed work in Khartoum.”

As fighting drags on with no clear end in sight, Port Sudan’s importance continues to grow—not only as a logistical hub, but also as the nerve center keeping Sudan connected to the outside world, one data packet at a time.

Edited by CGTN Africa reporter Marion Gachuhi