Displaced by war, young Sudanese turn to entrepeneurship to survive
News Source
β’Wed, 30 Sep 2026 19:43:47 +0000
π° What Happened
Yousra Hussein graduated in 2022 and started a group called Golden Women in Nyala, Sudan. It trained more than 70 women in marketing and business skills. When Sudan's civil war began in April 2023, she fled to the city of Sennar, then to Kassala. With no work or connections, she began doing nails from home for about $10 to $15. She later restarted Golden Women to help other women earn money.
π The Backstory
Sudan's war started in April 2023 between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. Fighting pushed millions of people from their homes and wrecked the economy. A 2024 United Nations study found the share of city households with no job or income rose from 1.6 percent before the war to about 18 percent. The World Bank says extreme poverty climbed from 33 percent in 2022 to 59 percent in 2025. With few jobs left, many young people try small businesses.
π― Why It Matters
This shows how war forces young workers to invent their own jobs when normal work disappears. It also shows how hard it is to get training, loans or support in a war zone.
Yousra Hussein graduated in 2022 and started a group called Golden Women in Nyala, Sudan. It trained more than 70 women in marketing and business skills. When Sudan's civil war began in April 2023, she fled to the city of Sennar, then to Kassala. With no work or connections, she began doing nails from home for about $10 to $15. She later restarted Golden Women to help other women earn money.
Sudan's war started in April 2023 between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. Fighting pushed millions of people from their homes and wrecked the economy. A 2024 United Nations study found the share of city households with no job or income rose from 1.6 percent before the war to about 18 percent. The World Bank says extreme poverty climbed from 33 percent in 2022 to 59 percent in 2025. With few jobs left, many young people try small businesses.
This shows how war forces young workers to invent their own jobs when normal work disappears. It also shows how hard it is to get training, loans or support in a war zone.