How to Call Sudan: Codes, Times and Costs
Millions of Sudanese live outside Sudan — across the Gulf, in Egypt, the UK, the US and Europe — and recent years have scattered families further than ever. For many, a phone call is the one reliable thread to parents in Omdurman, cousins in Kassala or friends in Port Sudan. This guide covers the dialing codes, the number format, the time difference, and how to keep the cost of staying in touch down.
The Sudanese number format
Sudan's country code is +249, followed by nine digits. Mobile numbers start with 9 (or 1 on some networks): a typical mobile looks like +249 91 123 1234. Landlines carry an area code — 15 covers the capital's tri-city of Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri, so a fixed line there looks like +249 15 312 3456. Inside Sudan numbers are written with a leading 0; drop it when dialing from abroad.
Dialing step by step
| Calling from | You dial |
|---|---|
| Europe or the UK | 00 249 91 123 1234 |
| USA or Canada | 011 249 91 123 1234 |
| Gulf countries | 00 249 91 123 1234 |
| Any mobile phone | +249 91 123 1234 |
Save Sudanese contacts once in the international +249 format and they work from any country. In the eFon app you simply pick the contact — prefixes are handled for you.
When to call: the time in Khartoum
Sudan is on Central Africa Time (UTC+2) all year round. In summer that is the same time as Paris, Berlin or Stockholm, one hour ahead of London — and in winter one hour ahead of Central Europe. Khartoum runs one hour behind Riyadh and two behind Dubai, so a call from the Gulf after work lands in Sudan's early evening. From New York the gap is six hours in summer: a lunchtime call reaches family at dinner.
Mobile is the lifeline
Sudan is a profoundly mobile-first country: World Bank counts show about 35 million mobile subscriptions against roughly 156,000 fixed lines. Whoever you are calling — in the capital or in Nyala, El Obeid or Kassala — you are almost certainly calling a mobile.
This is where eFon's approach matters most: only your side of the call needs internet. The person you call answers an ordinary mobile or landline call — no app, no smartphone, no data connection needed in Sudan. And if the network on the ground is having a difficult day, calls at a different hour often go through fine — mobile coverage tends to be steadiest in the morning and evening.
Cut the cost of every minute
Calling Sudan directly on a European or American mobile plan is expensive, and prepaid calling cards add connection fees on top. eFon routes the costly leg of the call over the internet and charges one clear per-minute rate with no connection fee — up to 90% less than dialling directly on a mobile-operator plan. The live rate for calling Sudan is always on the rates page.
One region, one app
Sudan borders seven countries, and Sudanese families often stretch across several of them. The same habit — international format plus eFon — covers calls to Egypt (+20), calls to South Sudan (+211) and calls to Eritrea (+291). For the wider Horn of Africa, see our guides on calling Eritrea and calling Ethiopia.