Khartoum: Naba Sudan – The Ministry of Social Development is moving to expand the role of microfinance in the post-war period, transforming it from a lending mechanism into a tool for social protection and empowering households and individuals to restore their livelihoods. The initiative will be discussed at an upcoming workshop focusing on improving microfinance efficiency and linking financing with training, marketing, and follow-up support.
Director-General of the Ministry of Social Development and Acting Minister, Siddig Hassan Farini, discussed preparations for the “Microfinance After the War” workshop with Al-Neel online newspaper Editor-in-Chief Hammam Mohamed Al-Fatih and Al-Balad Channel representative Mohamed Othman Al-Tohami, in the presence of relevant ministry departments.
The initiative comes amid the economic and social conditions created by the war and seeks to address a key question: Can microfinance help alleviate poverty and enable households and individuals to restore economic activity? The participants also emphasized that current financing ceilings remain below actual needs.
The workshop will examine ways to benefit from Central Bank of Sudan (CBOS) directives requiring banks to implement microfinance programs, while strengthening the media’s role in raising awareness of microfinance and promoting it as a social protection tool.
The proposed approach also includes linking financing with training, marketing, and follow-up; while providing greater flexibility in repayment to help entrepreneurs overcome challenges they may face during the start-up and operational phases.
The meeting stressed that the workshop should go beyond recommendations and produce immediately actionable outcomes, with participating institutions committed to rapid implementation, removing obstacles facing financiers and enterprises, and drawing on successful microfinance models.
Farini welcomed the initiative, saying the proposed approach was consistent with the requirements of the current phase and that the targeted groups directly aligned with the ministry’s priorities.
He announced the ministry’s approval to participate as a partner in the workshop, noting that several financial institutions have extensive experience in the field that could be leveraged to achieve the initiative’s objectives.
The ministry’s relevant sections also welcomed the workshop, stressing that microfinance should not be viewed merely as loans, but as a tool for social protection, household and individual empowerment, and strengthening communities’ ability to cope with the impact of the war.
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