Look How Sudan Has Fallen Behind Return to Khartoum: The 28-Ton Plan to Save the Pound—From Printing Presses of Lausanne
25 October, 2026
Khartoum, October 6, 2026 — Prime Minister Hafez Idris’s meeting with a delegation from the Swiss company K&B is no ordinary protocol news. It is an announcement that Sudan’s banknote printing presses are returning to their headquarters in Khartoum, following three years of operation from alternative locations in River Nile, the Northern State, and the Red Sea.
The Swiss company "Koenig & Bauer" Banknote Solutions (K&B) is not ordinary firm. It prints 90% of the world's banknotes. Its relationship with Sudan spans over three decades. Its return to Khartoum signifies one thing: Sudan is preparing to print a new currency.
However, the real question is not where we print, but what backs what we print.
First: The Scale of the Gap
According to Central Bank of Sudan data (June 2026):
• Total broad money (M2) reached 37 trillion pounds, representing an annual growth rate of 74%.
• At the parallel market exchange rate of 9,000 pounds per dollar, this money supply is equivalent to $`4.12 billion.
• Conversely, official gold exports in 2025 totaled only 14.7 tons, valued at $1.54 billion, even though Sudan’s actual production exceeds 70 tons. The funding gap required to secure stable backing ranges between an additional 14 tons of gold or $2 billion. Without closing this gap, any new currency issuance or the removal of zeros will be merely a temporary cosmetic fix.
Second: The Solution — The Sudanese Gold Bond
Instead of chasing traditional miners and smugglers, we should turn them into reserve financiers. This idea is adapted from two successful experiences:
1. The Malaysian Experience (1998)
When the currency crisis struck Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad did not resort to borrowing. Instead, he launched the "Gold Investment Account," converting citizens' savings from dollars into gold within local banks.
2. The Ghanaian Experience (2021) — Gold for Reserves
Ghana launched a program to purchase 20% of the gold produced by major and small-scale companies in local currency rather than US dollars. Within two years, the central bank increased its reserves from 8.7 tons to over 30 tons, stabilizing the Ghanaian cedi.
Proposed Sudanese Implementation:
• A. Gold Bonds for Traditional Miners:
The Bank of Sudan offers miners: “Deposit one gram of gold, and receive a gold bond equivalent to the value of the gram plus an annual return of 6% paid in gold.”
Goal: Attract 10 tons within 6 months = `$1.22 billion in direct backing. Miners protect their savings from inflation, while the state locks the gold in its vaults.
• B. Gold Accounts for Expatriates and Savers:
• Launch the "Bankak Gold" service—a digital gold-denominated account. An expatriate transfers 610 million from domestic and diaspora savings.
Through this, we reach an additional 15 tons, bringing us to the 28 tons required to cover 40% of the money supply plus three months of imports (approximately $3.5 billion).
Third: Why Do We Need K&B Now?
This plan cannot succeed without a secure new currency, which is the role of the Swiss company:
• K&B machinery features the unique Intaglio printing and three-dimensional holographic security threads that are impossible to counterfeit.
• Printing a new currency without three zeros (1 new pound = 1,000 old pounds) using these machines means withdrawing worn-out and forged currency from the market and replacing it with a currency trusted by citizens and merchants alike.
• Dropping zeros is not a solution to inflation; rather, it is an accounting and psychological simplification. Its true value materializes only if the new pound is backed by real gold inside the central bank.
Proposed Roadmap:
• Months 1–2: Issue the gold bond regulations and begin purchasing from traditional miners.
• Month 3: Deliver and maintain K&B machinery at the Khartoum headquarters.
• Months 4–5: Print the new secured denominations and gradually withdraw the old currency.
• Month 6: Announce the new pound, drop the zeros, and peg it to a basket: 60% gold, 40% export basket (sesame, gum arabic, meat).
Only then can the dollar decline from 9,000 pounds to 2,500–3,000 pounds—not by administrative decree, but because every new pound in a citizen's pocket is matched by real gold gathered by their fellow miner in Abu Hamad and Atbara.
Monetary sovereignty is not printed in Lausanne; it is extracted from the mines of the Northern State.
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