Business in Sudan

Sudan has a formal legal framework for business activity, while practical access is fragmented and often informal. The Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation, the Investment Organ and Private Sector Development, the Ministry of Justice and its Commercial Registrations, State Investment Commissions, the Sudan Taxation Chamber, chambers and sector authorities may each have a role. The Ministry of Justice lists the Companies Act 1925, Business Names Registration Act 1931, Partnership Act 1926 and Commercial Agents Registration Act 1971. The current availability and processing capacity of these institutions are not uniform across the country. A business may use an individual business, partnership, company, foreign company branch or commercial agency. Commercial Registrations handle companies, business names, partnerships and commercial agencies. Company articles or bylaws and statutory filings apply where the chosen legal form requires them. A commercial agency requires annual renewal, with the application normally due by the end of February. State-level execution means that the responsible office, documents, fees and processing time should be confirmed locally rather than assumed from a national description. An investment project generally requires an investment licence before formation, registration in the Investment Register and access to the single window, a combined channel for investment-related processing. An investment licence is valid for three years and can be renewed. A foreign investor must provide earnest money of at least USD 250,000 through an external transfer under the cited investment framework. A nationally established minimum capital amount for domestic investors is not available in the research basis. Sectoral or state permits, land or site arrangements and sometimes a feasibility study may also be required. Published fees illustrate local variation rather than a national tariff. North Kordofan and the National Investment and Export Council material list examples such as an application fee of SDG 201, an investment licence fee of SDG 1,474 for agriculture, SDG 2,727 for industry and SDG 2,227 for services, as well as business-name fees of SDG 312 for an individual business and SDG 602 for a partnership. Fee levels, validity and actual processing must be checked with the responsible local office before payment. Commercial activity creates tax and record-keeping duties. Income tax applies to commercial activity and profits. Businesses generally keep accounting books, journals, ledgers, inventory records and supporting documents for at least six years; records may be kept in Arabic or English. Foreign-currency records are converted into Sudanese pounds at the transaction exchange rate. Value added tax can apply to taxable local and imported goods, services and works. Importer and exporter registration is separate from turnover. A monthly VAT return is due no later than 15 days after the end of the month, including a month with no sales. Payroll income tax returns are due monthly no later than the 15th day of the following month, and payroll records should be kept for five years. The Tax Office should receive notice of cessation, a tax freeze or a change of address, and businesses must update invoices and registration details when required. The investment framework provides for a business-profits-tax exemption of up to five years from commercial production for qualifying projects, VAT exemption for approved capital equipment, land allocation and a grievance committee that should decide a complaint within three weeks. These legal provisions do not guarantee current access. Eligibility, approval, implementation and institutional capacity must be confirmed for the specific project and state. The conflict that began in April 2023 has sharply changed the operating environment. Reported real GDP fell by 29.4% in 2023 and 14% in 2024, while a 3.1% increase was projected for 2025. Inflation reached 68% in December 2024. By 16 March 2026, more than 11.6 million people were reported as forcibly displaced. Electricity, telecommunications, transport, supply chains, markets and public administration are heavily disrupted in many areas. Agriculture, livestock, gum arabic, trade, small manufacturing and diaspora-linked firms remain relevant resilience areas, but location, security and access to finance determine whether a model is workable. About one third of firms were reported closed, with average micro, small and medium-sized enterprise revenue down by 35.8%. Among displaced firms, 87.8% were reported closed, while 71% of closed firms wanted to reopen within one year. Many own-account and subsistence businesses operate without a fixed workplace, registration or tax records, and agricultural activity is often unregistered. Savings groups known as sanduks, community finance, solar energy for productive use, chamber-based employer training, cooperatives, self-help groups, incubation, mentoring, value-chain support and diaspora-linked blended finance can provide functional support. These are programmes or local practices, not a general legal entitlement. After formation, a business may need to record a business-name change, add a partner, dissolve a partnership, transfer ownership, pledge an asset, change its activity or suspend operations. A changed activity may require a new licence, and the earlier approved activity may need to have been completed first. The investment framework permits cancellation of an investment licence after more than one year of suspension without notice or after more than one year of delay from operational start without an accepted reason. The available research does not establish one uniform national deregistration or insolvency procedure, so closure planning requires direct confirmation from the relevant registration, tax and state authorities.