♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan’s news highlights from Darfur and Sudan
(File photo: Wikipedia)
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's news highlights from Darfur and Sudan
♦ Two more coronavirus cases registered in Sudan
April 6 – 2020 KHARTOUM Minister of Health Akram El Tom reported two new confirmed coronavirus cases in Sudan a press statement yesterday. This brings the number of recorded cases in Sudan to 12. Two of them died.
The two new patients are a 67-year-old foreigner and a girl. The man arrived from India on March 15. He is now being treated at the Jabra Isolation Centre in Khartoum. The 11-year-old girl was infected through direct contact with a corona patient in the country. She is not showing any symptoms.
The minister expressed his concern about the local transmission of the virus. He appealed to all those who returned to Sudan when the airport was reopened for a short period in mid-March to present themselves for examination to ensure that they are free of infection. He further stressed the need for a ban on all gatherings, and on all travels within Sudan and abroad.
In an op-ed published by Radio Dabanga last week, Cameron Hudson, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Africa Centre, stated that “given the almost total lack of testing and near-absent health care system, that figure [of confirmed cases in Sudan] is most assuredly grossly underestimated”.
Sudan is “in perhaps one of the worst situations anywhere in the world to mobilize an effective national response because of grinding poverty, lack of household savings to offset lost income, lack of access to clean water, proper sanitation, and health supplies, and millions living in displaced persons camps across Darfur and the Two Areas where Covid-19 could rip through with devastating effect,” he states.
The Council of Ministers is discussing the possibility of a gradual lockdown. On Friday, the government closed the border with Egypt.
♦ Sudan Pound continues fall against hard currencies
April 1 – 2020 KHARTOUM The Dollar exchange rate on the Khartoum parallel markets rose to SDG 134 (buying) and SDG 132 (selling). This is 2 per cent more than on Sunday and almost 2.5 times as much as the official Central Bank of Sudan rate.
One month ago, the greenback cost SDG 107 on the streets.
Buying a Euro now costs SDG 148, selling yields SDG 140. The Saudi Riyal exchange rate reached SDG 35 and the UAE Dirham SDG 36.
Traders attributed the rise in foreign exchange rates to a high demand of foreign currencies. The closure of the airport has led to a shortage of foreign currencies.
A large number of bakeries in Khartoum closed their doors as a result of the continuing shortages of flour and cooking gas. The price of a loaf of bread reached 2 Pounds in a number of neighbourhoods.
Abdelraouf Mustafa, head of the Bakeries Group’s Steering Committee in Khartoum said that the daily supply of 43,000 sacks of subsidised flour has decreased by 50 per cent.
Two months ago, a loaf of bread already cost up to five Pounds on the black markets in Sennar and El Gezira.
An eighth-grade teacher earns SDG 1,268 ($ 28) a month. The salary of a ninth-grade employee (who is always a university graduate) is limited to SDG 1,042. Workers earn SDG 645 a month.
More news from Radio Dabanga:
Sudan cabinet: New measures against Al Bashir party cadres
April 6 – 2020 KHARTOUM Sudan’s cabinet has directed new measures to confront security violations and movement of former members of the dissolved National Congress Party (NCP), led by ousted president Omar …
Wide support for PM Hamdok’s ‘Stand Up for Sudan Initiative’
April 5 – 2020 KHARTOUM Sudanese political parties and civil society groups have voiced support for Prime Minister Abdallah Handok’s national ‘Stand Up for Sudan’ Initiative that was launched on Thursday. Political actors …
Sudan: Acute drinking water shortage in South Kordofan, Blue Nile
April 5 – 2020 DELLING / EL DINDIR Attributed variously to corruption and neglect of water pumps and infrastructure under the former regime, parts of Sudan are suffering severe drinking water shortages. In Delling in South …
On Thursday, Minister of Industry and Trade Madani Abbas issued Ministerial Resolution No 41 (2020) with which he instructed a halt on the export of sorghum as of 15 April, until further notice. Undersecretary of the Ministry, …
Coronavirus in Sudan: Govt opts for possibility of a gradual lockdown
April 3 – 2020 KHARTOUM After consultations with Sudan’s Higher Committee for Health Emergencies on Thursday, the Council of Ministers decided to adopt a step-by-step approach concerning an entire lockdown to combat the …
‘Indirect’ Sudan peace talks resume in Juba
April 2 – 2020 JUBA Peace talks between the Sudanese transitional government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) alliance of armed opposition groups resumed in the South Sudanese capital of Juba today, following …
US Secretary of State calls Sudan’s PM Hamdok to discuss democratic transition
April 2 – 2020 WASHINGTON / KHARTOUM Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo held discussions of the telephone yesterday evening regarding the democratic transition, the appointment …
Coronavirus: Sudanese town decides on self-isolation
April 2 – 2020 KHARTOUM / ALBORGAIG The Sudanese Ministry of Health reported yesterday that no new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the country since Tuesday. In Northern State, the town of Alborgaig and surroundings …
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