VS’is the tripling of the price of bread that had pushed thousands of Sudanese into the streets in December 2018. Little by little, social and political demands had been added to the indignation aroused by this increase. This had amplified the popular uprising until it ousted the dictator Omar al-Bashir, yet clinging to power for 30 years.
However, since the coup perpetrated on October 25, this central commodity of Sudanese tables has seen itself multiplied by ten. The loaf that sold for 5 Sudanese pounds (SDG) in October reached 50 SDG in early April – a jump from around one euro cent to 10 euro cents according to the exchange rate set by the Sudanese Central Bank this April 4th. This outbreak is mainly the result of the freezing of more than 4.5 billion euros in international aid to punish the perpetrators of the putsch.
Some citizens give up bread
“Bread has become too expensive. We have to replace it with rice or lentils,” says Aziza Isaq, 39. This mother of nine children, the youngest of whom is only five months old, recently lost her husband. Her meager income as a cleaning lady has also forced her to give up milk and partially sugar, the price of which has doubled in a month. These significant increases affect the entire food sector, as well as electricity, fuel and public transport.
Despite everything, many Sudanese continue to go and buy their bag of individual loaves, round or in the shape of baguettes. The inhabitants of the Manshiya district, in the east of Khartoum, collect their precious booty at the green water counter of Mohamed Ahmed. Owner of three bakeries in the capital, this 30-year-old employs thirteen employees. At the same time, he administers a support group on Facebook which brings together nearly 24,000 bakers.
Dependency of Russia and Ukraine
The professional attributes the explosion in the price of the loaf both to inflation and to the consequences of the war in Ukraine. He holds, without hesitation, the putschists responsible for this flight. “We must lower the price of the dollar [dont la valeur progresse à mesure que livre soudanaise chute] and support wheat producers. Sudan has the capacity to produce its own wheat. But we don’t understand what is happening in this country. The government does nothing,” says Mohamed Ahmed.
In addition to soaring prices, he is alert to the depletion of wheat reserves that is looming. “The 20,000 tons of wheat sent by Russia at the beginning of March should be sold within a week. Then we can use the wheat harvested in Sudan in April. But this will only be enough for a month. We don’t know what will happen next,” warns the baker.
This dependence also worries the economist Mujahid Khalfalla. The latter estimates that “the Sudanese consume 2.7 million tons of wheat per year. Only 700,000 kg are produced locally. While three quarters of imported wheat comes from Russia and Ukraine”. However, the researcher cares more about national inflation. “The value of our currency declines daily. This is why the price of bread is rising, he explains. There is obviously an increase in the price of wheat at the world level linked to the war in Ukraine. But the prices are on average multiplied by 1.5 and not by 10 as in Sudan! »
The putschists print more banknotes
The economist therefore also accuses the putschists. “Government expenditures, including the implementation of the peace agreement signed in Juba in October 2020, were to be financed by international support. Now that the government has lost these sums, its only option is to print more notes. Which increases inflation,” explains Mujahid Khalfalla.
Short of resources, the military had to lift the subsidies that previously kept bread relatively low cost. A mistake, according to the baker Mohamed Ahmed: “The state should not liberalize the prices of basic necessities. A third of Sudanese are unemployed. Their living conditions and salaries are modest. If they spend all their money on bread, how can they pay for the rest? »
This April 6, Sudanese will return to the streets to mark the third anniversary of the sit-in that led to the fall of the old regime. They now hope to bring down the generals who have, in the meantime, monopolized the presidential palace.
