Counterfeit 1,000-Sudanese-pound banknotes are circulating in markets across Darfur and parts of Kordofan, with traders blaming organised criminal networks exploiting the deepening cash crisis in western Sudan.
Darfur24 reported that traders and money-transfer operators in Nyala had identified networks purchasing counterfeit Sudanese pounds and US dollars below face value before pushing them back into local markets and cross-border trade.
Authorities in RSF-controlled Nyala have also reportedly carried out security operations against suspected counterfeiters, seizing printing equipment, specialised inks and forged banknotes prepared for circulation.
The reported arrests support the view that the spread of fake currency is being treated by local authorities as an organised criminal operation rather than an official monetary policy.
This comes amid a severe shortage of physical cash across Darfur, where commissions charged for exchanging electronic transfers for banknotes have reportedly risen to between 25 and 30 percent on some platforms.
Residents say the shortage has been worsened by heavy rains that have blocked major roads linking towns and markets, disrupting trade and restricting the movement of cash.
The wider currency crisis has also been fuelled by the SAF-controlled Central Bank of Sudan’s decision to replace major banknotes in areas under its authority while older currency continued circulating across much of Darfur and Kordofan.
TASIS-aligned officials and supporters have described the move as a form of financial warfare that excluded millions of Sudanese living outside the Port Sudan junta’s control and created a cash vacuum increasingly exploited by smugglers and counterfeiters.
The result has been the emergence of a divided monetary system, with notes accepted in one part of the country rejected in another, leaving civilians dependent on costly electronic transactions and vulnerable to criminal currency networks.
