♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

♦ Sudan Pound plummets against US Dollar – market volatile

October 8 – 2018 KHARTOUM The newly established Market Makers Committee appointed by the Sudanese government to determine foreign exchange rates announced the exchange rate of Sudanese Pound against the US Dollar at SDG 47.5 on Sunday. On the parallel market, traders reported ‘confusion’ and a high of SDG 51 for the greenback on the streets of Khartoum.

The new independent mechanism which includes bank managers, foreign exchange experts and economists, has been formed from outside the government as part of a series of measures designed to address the current economic crisis in Sudan. The new exchange rate is intended to attract earnings and the savings of expatriates to the public treasury of the state.

Prof Hamid Eltigani, Head of Public Policy and Administration at the American University in Cairo, told Radio Dabanga however that “the real problem is the scarcity of the Dollar which will continue to rise up to 100 Pounds”. He predicted the bankruptcy of Sudanese banks soon.

He said that the presence of more than one price for the Dollar in the system of one state is indicative of a big problem, where the official price of the Central Bank of Sudan is SDG6, the price of customs and government transactions SDG18, the price of the market makers SDG47 and the price of the black market at SDG 52 Pounds – a difference of 200 to 300 per cent.

Sudan is suffering from a chronic lack of hard currency and cash, while exports remain low. High inflation figures caused a severe drop in purchasing power among the Sudanese since early January, after the government implemented major austerity measures.

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♦ 45 dead from chikungunya in Kassala

October 4 – 2018 KASSALA The Central Sudanese Doctors’ Committee has announced the death of 45 people of chikungunya fever, popularly known as kankasha, in Kassala Teaching Hospital, service centres, and a number of regular health facilities. They have also recorded more than 16,800 cases of infection.

In a statement, the committee highlighted that some of the deaths have not been reported to the health institutions. There are also cases of suspected dengue fever in the states of El Gedaref and El Gezira and the committee warned of the danger of health conditions in Sudan.

The Federal Ministry of Health and the state government denied any deaths. Commissioner Osman Mutasim confirmed at a press conference that the total number of cases in Kassala is 14,300. Health sources in El Gedaref state reported 44 cases of chikungunya fever until Monday.

Medics lament the fact that there are no well-equipped laboratories in the state. “Blood samples can only be analysed in Port Sudan or Khartoum,” one of them explained. “As transport is difficult because of the rains, if not impossible at the countryside, many people die without a medical examination.”
Activists are calling on social media for support to halt the epidemic. On Twitter for example the hashtag #KassalaIsDying is being used (#كسلا_تحتضر). They accuse the Sudanese authorities of sweeping the real numbers of infected people under the carpet, and criticise them for not doing enough.  

More news from Radio Dabanga:

Sudan Call launch campaign against Al Bashir re-election
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Three West Darfur schoolgirls raped
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UN: Fewer people displaced in Sudan in 2018
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North Darfur displaced demand release of detainees
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Sudanese music revived in Two Niles to Sing a Melody
October 7 – 2018 DABANGA SUDAN In mid-September, Ostinado Records, based in new York, released the double CD collection Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins & Synths of Sudan …

Sudan denies liberalisation of exchange rates, announces new import measures
October 5 – 2018 KHARTOUM The president of the Central Bank of Sudan has denied plans to entirely liberalise the exchange rate of the Sudanese Pound (SDG). He said the cabinet …

Chikugunya patient dies in Sudan's kassala, 12 new cases in Red Sea state
October 5 – 2018 NEW HALFA / JEBEIT A chikugunya patient died in New Halfa in eastern Sudan’s Kassala on Thursday. Twelve new cases of the mosquito-born disease were recorded …

Sudan’s NISS summons editors-in-chief after meeting with diplomats
October 5 – 2018 KHARTOUM Agents of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) confiscated the copies of El Jareeda and El Tayyar newspapers from the printing press …

Eight injured, Sudan Air Force crash closes Khartoum airport
October 4 – 2018 KHARTOUM All air traffic was suspended at Khartoum airport for much of Wednesday after an aircraft of the Sudan Armed Forces collided with another military aircraft …

Sudan economic crisis: Families survive on left-overs from restaurants
October 3 – 2018 KHARTOUM The left-overs of restaurants in the more luxurious district of El Amarat in Khartoum have become a welcome meal for many impoverished families in the …

Sudan police chief denies involvement in ‘head-shaving campaign’
October 3 – 2018 KHARTOUM The Chief of Police of Khartoum has denied any involvement in the campaign set-up by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the government’s main militia, to …