War Forces Young Sudanese Into Entrepreneurship as Livelihoods Collapse

Sudan's devastating civil war has shattered the career paths of countless young people, pushing many toward entrepreneurship and informal work as traditional employment opportunities evaporate. Among them is Yousra Hussein, whose promising future in medical laboratory sciences was derailed when conflict erupted across the country in April 2023.

Hussein had graduated from Nahda College in 2022 with a degree in medical laboratory sciences and immediately began building a women's empowerment initiative called Golden Women in Nyala, a city in western Sudan. The program organized psychosocial support sessions and provided training workshops in marketing and entrepreneurship, reaching more than 70 women who sought practical skills to pursue job opportunities.

Her ambitions crumbled when fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces consumed Nyala. By June 2023, Hussein and her family had fled to Sennar, a central Sudanese city she had never visited. Speaking to Al Jazeera, she described the stark contrast between her pre-war aspirations and her new reality, explaining that she had to start from nothing without work experience or connections in an unfamiliar place.

Unable to secure formal employment, Hussein began offering nail services from her home, charging the equivalent of approximately $10 to $15 per appointment and saving whatever she could to support her family. Her resourcefulness reflects the broader economic desperation gripping Sudan as the war continues to devastate the country's infrastructure and economy.

The conflict followed her once again when fighting spread to Sennar in mid-2024, forcing Hussein and her family to flee a second time, this time to Kassala in eastern Sudan. Once more, she found herself starting over from scratch in a region where she had no established roots or professional network.

With Sudan's economy in freefall and formal jobs increasingly scarce, Hussein revived her Golden Women initiative, recognizing the growing need for women to generate income to sustain their families. However, she has encountered significant barriers to scaling her efforts, including limited access to skills training, insufficient institutional support, and banking requirements for guarantees that many young entrepreneurs cannot fulfill. She also cited complex registration procedures and heavy taxes as obstacles to establishing and maintaining businesses.

Hussein's struggles mirror a nationwide collapse in employment and livelihoods. According to a 2024 joint report by the United Nations Development Fund and the International Food Policy Research Institute, 31 percent of 3,000 urban households surveyed had been displaced by the conflict. The proportion of respondents reporting no employment or income surged from 1.6 percent before the war to approximately 18 percent during the survey period, while full-time employment fell by half.

World Bank estimates paint an equally grim picture. Even as the economy experienced modest growth last year, with the government attempting to stabilize areas under its control, the percentage of Sudanese living in extreme poverty climbed from 33 percent in 2022 to 59 percent in 2025. This dramatic increase underscores how the war has reversed decades of development gains and pushed millions into destitution.

For young people whose education and careers have been interrupted, the shrinking labor market has made entrepreneurship and informal work the only viable options for survival. Yet many lack the skills and experience necessary to successfully operate their own businesses, creating a challenging paradox where self-employment becomes both a necessity and an uncertain gamble.

International and governmental programs have emerged to address this skills gap. The International Labour Organization reported in May that its i-UPSHIFT program had reached 500 young people in Kassala, offering entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and business incubation services. Thirty-eight youth-led teams comprising 160 participants, including 66 internally displaced persons, pitched business and social enterprise ideas through the program.

Sudan's Ministry of Youth and Sports has also promoted vocational training and youth-led projects. Minister Ahmed Adam Ahmed told Al Jazeera that two youth conferences were held in Atbara and Kassala to understand young people's views and aspirations as part of efforts to equip them with practical income-generating skills. He noted that one conference produced a proposal for an industrial city in River Nile State designed to support youth-led enterprises, with projects directed toward implementation in states considered safe.

The minister added that the Kassala conference focused on practical applications and innovation, particularly artificial intelligence and the use of agricultural waste, signaling some governmental effort to channel youth energy toward productive sectors despite the ongoing conflict.

The displacement crisis has affected Sudanese across all professions. Mahira, a 30-year-old visual artist who requested her full name be withheld, relocated to Port Sudan after her home in Khartoum was damaged during the fighting. She now creates decorative pieces and murals, earning approximately 1 million Sudanese pounds, equivalent to about $130 at parallel market exchange rates, to support her husband and son.

Before the war, Mahira had graduated with a degree in French and completed a diploma in fine arts from Sudan University of Science and Technology. Since being displaced, she has worked a variety of jobs, illustrating how even educated professionals have been forced to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and take on whatever work is available.

Mahira explained that her primary concern since the war began has been finding any income, regardless of amount, to meet her family's daily needs. Her experience reflects the broader reality facing millions of displaced Sudanese who must prioritize immediate survival over long-term career development.

The stories of Hussein and Mahira highlight both the resilience of Sudan's young population and the extraordinary obstacles they face. While entrepreneurship offers a path to survival, structural barriers including limited capital, regulatory hurdles, and an economy crippled by conflict continue to constrain their efforts. Without sustained international support and improved security conditions, many young Sudanese risk remaining trapped in precarious informal work with little prospect for stability or growth.