Sudan’s Commercial Registrar halts Port Sudan work ahead of Khartoum return

December 14, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s Commercial Registrar suspended operations in Port Sudan on Sunday, preparing to relocate to Khartoum as the government pushes to return state institutions to the war-scarred capital.

The Registrar General, part of the Ministry of Justice, announced that new transactions in the temporary administrative hub of Port Sudan would cease immediately. Operations are scheduled to resume in Khartoum next Sunday.

Government bodies fled to the Red Sea city after war erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), threatening the state with collapse.

The relocation follows a cabinet directive issued last week ordering ministries to begin transferring back to Khartoum. The government aims to reactivate state machinery from the national capital and unify administrative procedures.

Prime Minister Kamel Idris announced in August that the government would return by early 2026, contingent on the rehabilitation of facilities and the restoration of essential services like electricity and water.

A government committee tasked with facilitating the return has decided to relocate ministries from their historic buildings in central Khartoum—many of which were heavily damaged in the fighting—to alternative sites within the state.