Protests spread in Sudan over cost of living

KHARTOUM: Protests flared Tuesday in several parts of Sudan over the high cost of living as the United States voiced support for the new government’s efforts to revive the economy.

The new cabinet includes rebel leaders and has been tasked with fixing an economy decimated by decades of US sanctions, mismanagement and civil war under ousted president Omar alBashir.

It also faces breathtaking inflation, chronic hard currency shortages and a flourishing black market.

On Tuesday, demonstrators in Nyala, capital of South Darfur state, hurled stones at police and set several shops on fire in the main market, an AFP correspondent there said.

“No to high prices, no to hunger,” they chanted, as police fired tear gas to disperse them.

Authorities in South Darfur imposed a 12-hour nighttime curfew starting from 6pm.

Sudan has been undergoing a rocky transition since the April 2019 ouster of Bashir following mass protests against his rule, triggered by economic hardships including a hike in bread prices.

On Monday, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok named a new team that includes rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim as finance minister.

Ibrahim vowed on Twitter: “We promise not to sleep until we end bread and fuel queues, and to make life-saving medications available at reasonable prices.”

Hamdok spoke by telephone Tuesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who voiced support for the transitional government.

Hamdok tweeted that the United States was committed supporting lasting peace and democracy in Sudan and “helping us push our economic relations to new frontiers.”

Blinken and Hamdok “discussed ways to promote economic reform and development, while also implementing recent peace agreements and addressing the root causes of violence in Darfur,” the State Department said.

The United States late last year rescinded Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, a legacy from Bashir’s rule that severely impeded investment.