Western countries” (Buttorff and Welborne 2015, 1).<sup>16</sup> That said, there seems to be some gender differences in the use of _wasta_ depending on the country context. In a study comparing several Arab countries, men and women appeared to use roughly comparable amounts of _wasta_ in Algeria, Morocco, and Lebanon, while men were using considerably more _wasta_ than women in Jordan, Palestine, and Yemen (Buttorff and Welborne 2015).

In Sudan, the use of _wasta_ to shape current institutions can be traced back to colonial times. Mann explains how the British colonial administration used the _wasta_ of Sudan’s sectarian and tribal leaders to develop Sudanese institutions modelled after British institutions. For example, following independence, Gordon Memorial College became the University of Khartoum, and the children of the sectarian and tribal leaders, and their trusted circles, had an easier time securing positions in Gordon Memorial College and then posts in the government. Similarly, Sudan’s post-1983 leaders used the _wasta_ of regional leaders in Islamic banking to Islamize Sudan’s banking system. Those whose personal connections brought them into the fold of these banks, like the youth of the Colonial era who were educated in Gordon Memorial College, became the country’s future leaders in business and politics.

_Wasta_ continues to play an important role in both accessing and rising within the Sudanese labor market. More than half, 56 percent, of the Arab Barometer (2018) respondents believe that it is often impossible to get a job without _wasta_ . According to Mann’s fieldwork in Sudan, _wasta_ plays a greater role among the current generation than it did among previous generations.<sup>17</sup> Mann writes, “[ _Wasta_ ] has become so important in securing livelihoods that young people refer to it as ‘Vitamin Waw’” (Mann 2014, 21). For example, more than 80 percent of Mann’s survey respondents who were between the ages of 20 and 24 learned about their current jobs through ‘personal contacts’ (as opposed to ‘direct application’, ‘newspaper/internet’, or ‘combination’). For respondents aged 30 to 34, the figure was 50 percent; for respondents aged 40 to 44, it was close to 60 percent; and for respondents aged 50 and older, it was less than 30 percent (Mann 2014). The KIIs and FGDs conducted for this report confirmed the abovementioned studies’ findings. Indeed, one of the focus group participants, a woman from Madani who was not working, made a comment identical to that of one of the participants in Mann’s study: “Young people call it [ _wasta_ ] vitamin ‘W’.” The usefulness of _wasta_ appears to be region specific. For those who were raised in the capital, Khartoum, and its environs, _wasta_ is about useful ties to those who are in power in the government and/or the private sector, for example, the oil industry. Mann’s research offers several examples of Khartoum youth who became involved in clubs that were organized and funded by prominent politicians or business leaders. Through their affiliations with these clubs—rather than through school or university—these youth were able to make connections that led to jobs. This is such a well-established practice that a fifth of the respondents in the Arab Barometer survey (2018) do not consider it corruption when government officials provide _wasta_ for relatives. Mann’s study shows that for those who are from outside Khartoum,

> 16 The study by Buttorff and Welborne primarily used data from the Arab Barometer’s 2006–2007 survey. 17 Mann’s research draws on, “...18 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted on university campuses and recruitment centres between 2008 and 2010, 159 interviews with civil servants, managers and job seekers and a 400-person survey conducted in 14 different organisations (three banks, two engineering consultancies, one large private family business, four hospitals and four NGOs) and on public busses” (Mann 2014, 562).

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