Sudan's army-aligned government has issued new banknotes in areas it controls, reportedly aimed at undermining its paramilitary rivals but causing long queues at banks, disrupting trade and entrenching division.

In a country already grappling with war and famine, the swap replaced 500 and 1,000 Sudanese pound banknotes (worth around $0.25 and $0.50 respectively) with new ones in seven states.

The government justified the move as necessary to "protect the national economy and combat criminal counterfeiters".

But for many Sudanese it just caused problems.

In Port Sudan, now the de facto capital, frustration boiled over as banks failed to provide enough new notes.

One 37-year-old woman spent days unsuccessfully trying to get the new money.

"I've been going to the bank four or five times a week to get the new currency. But there is none," she told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Grocers, rickshaw drivers, petrol stations and small shop owners are refusing to accept the old currency, preventing many transactions in a country reliant on cash.

"We cannot buy small things from street vendors any more or........

© International Business Times