Destroyed bridges, power outages, empty water stations, looted hospitals, collapsed buildings, and those at risk of collapse across the Sudanese capital bear witness to the devastating impact of the more than two-year-long war on infrastructure in Khartoum and throughout the country.
Authorities estimate that reconstruction will require hundreds of billions of dollars. However, the chances of this happening in the short term are slim, due to ongoing fighting and drone attacks targeting power stations, dams, and fuel depots. This comes in a world increasingly reluctant to provide foreign aid, with the United States—once the largest donor—cutting its assistance.
The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been fighting since April 2023, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths or injuries and the displacement of around 13 million people. Approximately 30 million people are in need of food aid, a third of whom are suffering from famine—a situation aid groups and UN organizations have described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The United States has accused the Sudanese army of using chemical weapons in the conflict, while accusing the RSF of committing war crimes in Darfur.
Suffering in Khartoum
Residents of the capital, Khartoum, are forced to endure weeks-long power outages, unclean water, and overcrowded hospitals. Their airport lies in ruins, with aircraft carcasses littering the runway, according to a Reuters report.
Most major buildings in central Khartoum are burned, and once-affluent neighborhoods have become ghost towns filled with destroyed cars and unexploded shells scattered in the streets.
Tariq Ahmed (56) stated, “Khartoum is uninhabitable. The war has destroyed our lives and our country. We feel homeless despite the army regaining control.”
Ahmed briefly returned to his looted home in the capital before leaving again, after the army recently expelled the RSF from Khartoum.
One visible consequence of the collapsed infrastructure is the rapid spread of a cholera outbreak, which caused 172 deaths out of 2,729 cases just last week—most of them in Khartoum.
The Plight of Women in Darfur
Other parts of central and western Sudan, including the Darfur region, are also devastated by the fighting. Meanwhile, the extensive destruction in Khartoum, once a hub for services, affects the entire country.
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported that women and girls in Darfur face a near-constant threat of sexual violence.
Emergency coordinator Claire San Filippo said, “Women and girls don’t feel safe anywhere. They’re attacked in their homes, while fleeing violence, when fetching food, gathering firewood, or working in the fields. They tell us they feel trapped.”
She added that sexual violence has become so widespread in Darfur that people speak about it in fear as if it’s inevitable. “Women and girls feel unsafe everywhere,” Filippo said, noting that the assaults are often committed by repeat offenders.
Reconstruction Estimates
Sudanese authorities estimate that Khartoum alone needs $300 billion for reconstruction, while the rest of Sudan requires $700 billion. The United Nations is currently preparing its own estimates.
Oil and Energy Minister Mohieddin Naeem stated that Sudan’s oil production has fallen by more than half, to 24,000 barrels per day. Refining capabilities have ceased after the main refinery in Al-Jaili suffered $3 billion in damage during the conflict. Without refining capacity, Sudan is now exporting all its crude oil and relying on imports. The country is also struggling to maintain the pipeline infrastructure necessary for South Sudan’s oil exports.
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