Sudan’s Eid El Adha season failing due to fees, Saudi restrictions

The rapporteur of the former exporters division at the Chamber of Commerce, Khalid Khair, has reported the failure of Eid El Adha season this year because of the “large illegal fees imposed by the authorities in West Kordofan and Red Sea state”. Saudi veterinary authorities have also reportedly suspended the import of sheep from Sudan.

Also called the "Feast of Sacrifice", the Islamic holiday of Eid El Adha each Muslim family who can afford it is expected to sacrifice an animal, usually a sheep, which is divided into three parts: one third of the share is given to the poor and needy; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbours; and the remaining third is retained by the family.

Eid El Adha is expected to start on August 21 and income from sheep exported to Saudi Arabia to meet the demand is an important annual injecting of foreign currency.

Foot and mouth disease

A source told Radio Dabanga said that Saudi Arabia has informed the Sudanese authorities of suspending the reception of the sheep exported from Sudan on suspicion of weak immunity against foot and mouth disease.

The source stressed that the veterinary quarantine authorities in Saudi Arabia require that the immune system should be more than 40 per cent.

Economic analyst, Professor Esamedin Abdelwahab Bob, has held Sudan’s Ministry of Animal Resources and Quarries responsible for the loss of this year’s season and the uncertainty of the safety of livestock exports to Saudi Arabia.

Price hikes

The increased local demand ahead of Eid El Adha traditionally forces a sharp rise in the price of sheep, however the current economic conditions throughout the country which include runaway inflation and short supply of consumer goods due to the nationwide fuel crisis, promise to place even more pressure on beleaguered consumers this year.

Eid El Adha is preferably spent with relatives. Many Sudanese usually travel to their home towns to celebrate the feast together, however the transport crisis and rising ticket prices resulting from the chronic fuel shortage are expected to affect many prospective travellers.

Inflation

The inflation continued to rise in July, recording 63.94 per cent, compared to 63.86 per cent in June. Sudan's Central Bureau of Statistics attributed the rise to the rise in the prices of the food and beverages.

However, economic analyst Kamal Karrar said the official figures were inaccurate; pointing out that real inflation rates exceeded 400 per cent.