AI regulation in Sudan (2026)

Sudan has not enacted any AI-specific statute, sectoral AI regulation, or formally published national AI strategy; AI is largely unregulated and addressed only in early policy discussion.

On 5 November 2025 Prime Minister Kamil Idris issued a decree establishing three bodies under the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Communications — a Digital Transformation Authority, a Sudanese Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, and a Sudanese Cybersecurity Authority — tasked with national data governance and promoting AI in public services.

Sudan lacks a general data-protection law; relevant rules are fragmented across the Electronic Transactions Act (2007), Cybercrime Act (2007) and its 2020 amendment, with a Draft Data Protection Bill (2018) never enacted — leaving a weak legal foundation for AI governance.

The 2020 cybercrime amendments tightened sanctions and have been criticized by ARTICLE 19 for restricting free expression; these address online conduct rather than AI systems specifically.

As an AU member, Sudan is expected to develop a national AI strategy and governance framework under the AU Continental AI Strategy (endorsed July 2024, Phase I 2025–2026), but it has not yet published one.

Oxford Insights' Government AI Readiness Index scored Sudan 24.63/100 in 2024, below the sub-Saharan African average (~32.70); ongoing armed conflict, instability, and funding gaps are the main barriers to building AI governance.