Sudan-Egypt border still closed to freight traffic

Farmers and members of Resistance Committees in Northern State continued to close the Sheryan El Shimal (Artery of the North) road in El Borgeig, Abri, and other points on Tuesday, to protest the military coup of October 25, and to demand the abolition of the new electricity tariff.

The protestors prevented lorries heading to and from Egypt from crossing, while they allowed private vehicles, travel buses, and ambulances to pass.

On Monday, a meeting headed by the head of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan reached an agreement with the protestors about exempting the agricultural sector from the raised electricity tariff until the end of the winter season on April 30th, after which the new tariff will be discussed, on the condition that the blockade is lifted.

The blockade that has particularly hampered freight traffic since January 9, was set up in protest against the sharp increases in electricity prices. Last year, the Ministry of Finance planned a significant increase in electricity prices for 2022, as it decided to continue with lifting subsidies to consumer goods, in order to meet the demands of the World Bank. In early January 2021, the power tariffs already increased by 500 per cent.