Source: AFP
On a street corner in the Sudanese town of Tamboul, dozens of people are frantically tapping their phones, calling loved ones and transferring money through online apps.
At the center of their tangle is a bright white dish connected to the internet via Starlink, the satellite system owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company.
Starlink has become a lifeline for some in a country where the internet has gone down regularly since war broke out last April between Sudan’s army and paramilitary forces.
But the system, which can bring connectivity where there is no terrestrial network, is not officially available in Sudan.
Instead, the kits have entered the country “illegally through Libya, South Sudan and Eritrea,” a device reseller told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The cost for dishes and subscriptions can run into the hundreds of dollars, well beyond the reach of most Sudanese.
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The fees are paid by Sudanese abroad or entrepreneurs like Mohamed Bellah, who runs an Internet cafe in a village about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Khartoum.
“You can get your money back in three days,” he told AFP, saying the investment was worth every penny.
Anxious waiting
The conflict between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has displaced millions and killed many thousands.
The banking system has collapsed and millions can now access money only through Bank of Khartoum’s Bankak app.
Officials have not offered an explanation for the blackouts, although the near-total shutdown in February was widely blamed on RSF.
Now people like Issam Ahmed, huddled around the plate in Tamboul, about 140 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Khartoum, depend on Starlink.
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He anxiously awaited family news and financial support from his son, who works in Saudi Arabia.
“He sent me money through the bank’s app and I just transferred it to a foreign exchange dealer who will give me cash,” Ahmed told AFP.
Starlink, which is available in more than 70 countries, allows high-priced users to take their dishes with them across national borders.
Musk made a big play of deploying the system in war-torn Ukraine and during the 2022 protests in Iran.
But it has made no such gesture in Sudan, and none of the tariffs advertised on Starlink’s website would allow the kind of usage seen there. SpaceX has not responded to AFP requests for clarification.
RSF profit
The Sudanese government, which is loyal to the military, banned Starlink devices in December.
But by that stage, RSF had already begun to take advantage of business opportunities.
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In Qanab al-Halawein, a village southeast of Khartoum, RSF forces charge access to their own plate.
“They put the plate in the square every morning and leave at night with all the money they’ve made,” one resident told AFP on condition of anonymity.
An Internet cafe owner in another village said RSF staff came “every day” and took 150,000 Sudanese pounds ($140 for foreign exchange agents) in exchange for allowing the cafe to offer Starlink.
The military caught up and partially backtracked on its ban, announcing in late February that it would donate some Starlink dishes to residents in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum.
Strict procurement
But the vast region of Darfur in western Sudan, home to about a quarter of its 48 million people, has been hit particularly hard by the wartime blackout.
Vast areas were without any connection for almost a year and the use of dishes spread rapidly in an area largely controlled by the RSF.
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“Without (Starlink) we would never have been able to figure out how to get money,” Mohamed Besara told AFP via text message from the Otash camp in South Darfur.
But for Beshara and thousands like him, it takes money to get money.
It pays about $3 an hour to connect, and coin traders receive commissions for every Bankak transaction.
For desperate Tamboul residents like 43-year-old Arij Ahmed, paying for supplies is a necessary sacrifice.
She walks five kilometers (three miles) with her 12-year-old son on the Starlink dish “every week when my husband in Qatar gets his salary check and sends us a remittance,” she told AFP.
And each week, she hopes to get enough money to see her through until her next connection.
Source: AFP