Khartoum ‘capital of queues’ for bread, fuel

Food prices in the markets in Khartoum have increased again. In particular one of Sudan’s most popular food items, onions, have become more expensive.

The price of a 100 kg sack of onions increased to SDG3,200 ($113*) in Khartoum. In Wad Medani, in Sudan’s El Gezira state, a similar quantity would cost SDG2,900 ($103). A sack costs SDG 3,000 in El Fasher in North Darfur and SDG 2,650 in Nyala in South Darfur.

A 100kg sack of okra in Nyala in South Darfur now costs SDG2,500 and a jerrycan of cooking oil has amounted to SDG980.

The bread crisis still continues in the capital city, where people in various districts of Khartoum stand in long lines in front of the bakeries to obtain bread.

Residents speaking to Radio Dabanga said that queue every day for hours. The situation is the same in front of fuel stations in the capital, where vehicles line up in the hopes to obtain fuel despite the fuel shortage.

A resident described the crisis as serious. “Khartoum has become the capital of the queues where all the goods are difficult to obtain.”

They pointed out that the fuel crisis has led to the rise of transportation costs.

The shortage of fuel that has hit Sudanese cities in the past weeks to months heavily impacts millers and bakers, but has also led to a transportation crisis that exacerbates the shortage of fuel and consumer goods.

* All SDG currency conversions are based on the daily US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS)