Why E-Government Matters for Sudan

By: Babiker Mohamed
Digital Analyst

The average Sudanese citizen spends most of the day navigating through endless queues, submitting a bunch of paperwork and oftentimes ending up paying for “facilitation fees. This isn’t just a matter of convenience but a matter of valuing time as much as money. Our country’s continued reliance on paper based systems has created a lot of inefficiencies, delays and opportunities for corruption. Now that Sudan is moving towards a new phase of reconstruction and development we simply cannot risk falling further behind. Which is why the push for E-Govemment is the way out. This transformation can help in many ways. Such as digital education in remote areas, agri-tech for farmers, health care access and government services. It is also a gateway for citizens to feel directly connected with decision makers and voice their concerns directly to officials. So the idea of long queues and delays isn’t just inconvenient but it is holding back our country’s progress. This digital transformation will have a domino effect. Every digitized service will in turn create more opportunities. For example, a simplified business registration service will create more business startups and in turn that will create more jobs. The question isn’t whether we have the money to do so, but it’s whether we can afford wasting time and money in lost productivity to paper based systems. The future of governance is digital, but we must first close the gap with advancing nations.