When Sudan achieved
independence in 1956, the creation of workable monetary arrangements was a priority. The new government first established a
currency board, the
Sudan Currency Board, in 1957. A 3-man commission of experts from the United States's
Federal Reserve then worked with Sudanese government and finance specialists to create the
Law of the Bank of Sudan for 1959, and in 1960 the Bank of Sudan began operations. To establish the bank, the Sudanese government nationalized the
National Bank of Egypt's operations in the Sudan (some seven branches), and combined them with the Sudanese currency board. In addition to the normal duties of a central bank, which may include
minting coins and
issuing banknotes, managing a country's internal and external
accounting, and setting
monetary policy and
interest rates, Sudan's central bank is also responsible for fostering
Islamic banking. After Sudan introduced Islamic law (
Sharia) in 1984, the banking and financial industry changed its practices to conform with Sharia. In 1993 the government established the
Sharia High Supervisory Board (SHSB) to ensure compatibility of financial practices with Islamic principles. In compliance with the SHSB, the government is no longer selling
treasury bills and
government bonds; instead, the Bank sells "Financial Certificates" that comply with Islamic financial principles.
Banking history In 1965, Bank of Sudan and
Crédit Lyonnais formed a joint-venture bank named Al/An/El Nilein Bank (Nile Bank). Crédit Lyonnais contributed the two branches it had developed since it first entered Sudan in 1953. Bank of Sudan took 60 percent of the shares in Nilein Bank, and Crédit Lyonnais took 40 percent. In 1970, the Sudanese government nationalized all the banks in the Sudan, changed the names of several, and put them under the Bank of Sudan. Barclays Bank, which had an extensive network of 24 branches, became the State Bank of Foreign Trade, and then
Bank of Khartoum. The six branches of Egypt's
Bank Misr became
People's Cooperative Bank. The four branches of Jordan's
Arab Bank became Red Sea Bank or Red Sea Commercial Bank (accounts differ).
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia's one branch became Juba Commercial Bank.
National and Grindlays Bank, which in 1969 had taken over the four branches that Ottoman Bank had established after it entered in 1949, became Omdurman Bank. In 1973 Red Sea Bank and People's Cooperative Bank were merged into Omdurman Bank. Then in 1984 Omdurman Bank merged with the Juba Commercial Bank to form Unity Bank. In 1993, Al/An/El Nilein Bank merged with the Industrial Bank of Sudan to form Nilein Industrial Development Bank. In 2006, Dubai-based Emaar Properties and Amlak Finance acquired a 60% stake in Sudan’s El Nilein Industrial Development Bank; the Bank of Sudan retained a 40% stake. ==Operations==