Queues for Fuel, Queues for Bread, Queues for Everything

Yet again, Sudanese residents took to social media to express their despair of long queues for fuel, bread, ATMs and more. The queues are a result of a shortage of fuel, bread and banknotes, amongst other things.

The crisis comes amid surging inflation and has deepened as the black market for US Dollars (USD) has replaced the formal banking system after the Sudanese Pound (SDG) was devalued, making it more difficult to import essential supplies. According to news reports, the exchange rate of USD against SDG rose, where the price of selling USD in rose to SDG 55 in cash and SDG 63 for cheques. 

حدد موقعك في السودان الآن:
-صف بنزين؟
-صف جاز؟
-صف العيش (ماتنسى الرقم الوطني)؟
-صف الغاز؟
-صف الATM ؟ pic.twitter.com/5JqLjWlJLy

— 👩🏻‍⚕️Riri (@Dr_Rogaia) 3 December 2018

لماذا تنتظم كل الصفوف في السودان
صف البنزين.. صف الخبز..صف الصراف .. صف المغتربين.. صف الغاز.. صفوف الاحن والمحن..
عدا صف الثورةوالتغييرليس لها انتظام..!؟#السودان#منبر_المغردين_السودانيين pic.twitter.com/moX6m8aIRR

— Sami Osman (@simsimsami33) 2 December 2018

The crisis has been ongoing over the past year, triggering anti-government protests in Khartoum and other cities across Sudan. On social media, people have expressing their despair under the hashtag السودان_الفساد_السياسي#, which translates to ‘Sudan’s political corruption’.

سياسه تقتل شعبها من عدم توفر خبزوعدم وقود ودواء وقتل للابرياءمن الشعب بدون وجه حق #السودان_الفساد_السياسي pic.twitter.com/qNlk93d6jm

— H (@akanji32) 4 December 2018

Fuel shortage

From the beginning of 2018, Sudan has been suffering from petrol and diesel shortages forcing residents to queue for hours outside gas stations. Some stations have stopped working completely due to lack of fuel.

As fuel supplies diminished, officials blamed maintenance delays at a key refinery. However, foreign currency shortages have also played a role. The crisis has since escalated despite officials pledging to resolve it. The shortage has hiked prices of petrol in the black market.

Farmers have also been affected as they are unable to transport their products to markets as hundreds of trucks have been grounded due to the fuel shortage.

Bread shortages

Bread shortages hit Sudan hard in August, with wheat traders blaming a foreign currency crisis for shortages of the staple that have left people queuing for hours outside bakeries.

This is despite of Sudan having imported 2 million tonnes of wheat in 2017 in addition to the 445,000 tonnes produced locally.

The price of bread doubled in January triggering demonstrations after the government eliminated subsidies. Now, Sudanese residents have been enduring months of bread shortages and long queues.

And that’s the thing about Sudan, it will never ever be great again. It’ll only get worse.#SudanIsSuffering#السودان_الفساد_السياسي pic.twitter.com/07GzYVs8ee

— HELIOS (@Abdelllllrahman) 4 December 2018

Cash shortage

Many ATM machines have run out of banknotes as the government attempts to prevent economic collapse with a sharp devaluation and austerity measures.

An on-going crisis this year, the cash shortage hit hard in August 2018. According to Reuters, ‘Rising demand for cash due to inflation, lack of trust in the banking system and the central bank’s policy of restricting the money supply to protect the Sudanese Pound have all contributed to a liquidity crunch that has worsened in the past 10 days pending new banknote deliveries.’

يمش يدور على ATM فالنهاية يلقاهم فضوا و م يلقى ويخلص بنزينو ويدور على طرمبة يلقى صف طويل ويتذكر انو مفلس يقرر يكسر حنك ويوقف العربية مزهرية، السودان جميل 🙂✌🏼

— يا سِــــــر (@yaso0_adil) 1 December 2018

#تغريده_للحريه
ابسط معاني الحرية
تقدر تسحب قروشك من البنك في اي زمن وأي مبلغ .
تلقي مواصلات في أي مكان وأي زمان.
تلقى الدواء في اقرب صيدليه .
وغيرها من السلع والخدمات
مش تتحبس في صف العيش أو البنزين والجاز أو انتظار الموصلات.
للأسف نحن عايشين في سجن كبير
اسمو السودان.

— ⁦🇸🇩⁩ إبراهيم شمعون ⁦🇸🇩⁩ (@lbrahimmgeed12) 1 December 2018

Sudan’s economy has long been suffering, but was particularly hit hard after South Sudan separated in 2011, taking with it about 75% of the country’s overall oil revenues.