Sudan’s Asjad Digital mounts legal challenge against central bank licence revocation
August 17, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The chief executive of Sudanese fintech firm Al Asjad Digital and Smart Solutions (ASD) said the company has launched legal action against the Central Bank of Sudan over the sudden revocation of its operating licence, while strongly rejecting allegations regarding its ties to the United Arab Emirates.
The central bank cancelled Al Asjad’s licence in July, just days after the platform was officially rolled out.
In an interview with Sudan Tribune, Chief Executive Al Asjad Yahya Al-Kazim said the company is challenging the regulatory decision in court and preparing separate defamation suits against parties circulating what she described as false claims about the firm’s leadership.
“We trust the integrity of the Sudanese judiciary,” Al-Kazim said. “Resorting to the courts remains our chosen path to protect our rights and establish the facts based on the law and official records.”
Academic foundation and licensing dispute
Al-Kazim said the platform was the culmination of more than a decade of work across the Sudanese banking sector, including stints at the Bank of Khartoum, Saudi Sudanese Bank, and Al Jazeera Sudanese Jordanian Bank.
She said her academic research on mobile banking and digital payments formed the blueprint for the company’s technical architecture, which was showcased to regional stakeholders at an industry conference in Port Sudan in March 2025.
Al-Kazim said the company originally proposed deploying the payment platform under a public-private build-operate-transfer (BOT) model before eventually handing operations to state institutions.
“Our goal was never to secure a private monopoly, but to help build a national digital payments backbone for the banking sector and the wider economy,” she said.
The licensing process took over a year to complete, requiring comprehensive technical, security, and operational reviews by the central bank before bilateral agreements were signed with multiple domestic lenders, she said.
UAE business links
Al-Kazim dismissed scrutiny of the company’s operations in the United Arab Emirates, stating that foreign branches do not constitute foreign ownership or political patronage.
“We do not deny our commercial presence in the UAE; it is legally registered and declared,” she said. “What we reject is using the presence of a foreign commercial branch to make unsubstantiated claims regarding our ownership, funding, or political alignment.”
She noted that cross-border operations in Gulf financial centres are common for Sudanese financial institutions, pointing out that Al Nilein Bank maintains a UAE branch and the Bank of Khartoum counts Emirati investors among its core shareholders.
Al-Kazim added that Sudanese authorities have issued no formal request for the company to wind down its commercial entities in the UAE, Qatar, or Egypt.
Defamation claims and regulatory response
The company is compiling records of media reports and online commentary that it says made false claims about its operations, with plans to initiate legal proceedings against the publishers.
“We distinguish between legitimate press oversight and unsubstantiated allegations that harm corporate reputations,” Al-Kazim said. “Those who claim to have evidence should present it before the competent authorities, and we will present our documentation in return.”
While challenging the regulatory ban, Al-Kazim said the company remains focused on expanding its fintech and artificial intelligence operations across the region.
“We chose not to wage a media campaign,” she said. “We will respond through the courts, armed with official documents, and continue our broader digital transformation work.”