As Sudan’s civil conflict passes the two-year mark, it has displaced an estimated 12.7 million people, and around 30 million are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

Though it hasn’t generated as many headlines in the West as conflicts in Gaza or Ukraine, it is the world’s worst active humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.

Amid the war, a nationwide mobile connectivity blackout early last year plunged millions into a digital silence, cutting them off from critical communication channels and mobile financial services.

Nearly 30 million cellular mobile connections were active just before the blackout, equivalent to nearly 60% of the population.

The outage, which lasted 40 days, paralysed services provided by three of the country’s major mobile network operators (MNOs), including Zain Sudan.

At the time, Zain was forced to post on Facebook that it was “working under very difficult, harsh, and dangerous circumstances.” It added that the “current network outage is due to circumstances beyond its will.”

In Sudan, many people use mobile wallets. These allow them to store funds, pay bills, and transfer money without a traditional bank account. With connectivity offline, the disruption caused severe economic repercussions and destabilised an already fragile financial system.

On top of this, the breakdown in connectivity severely impacted communication to emergency services and humanitarian support civilians desperately needed, the opportunity for them to seek safe zones from fighting, and access life-saving necessities.

“Without communication, humanitarian operations and emergency services are likely to grind to a complete halt, putting millions of lives at risk,” Sarah Jackson, deputy regional director of human rights organisation Amnesty International East and Southern Africa, said at the time.

One humanitarian worker told Amnesty: “E-wallets require internet connectivity to complete transactions. Lack of internet connectivity freezes E-wallet transactions, and no funds mean no delivery of most of the [emergency] work, including delivery of food and other necessities.”