Sudan: protesters block roads in capital as government ends fuel subsidies

Motorcyclists queue-up for fuel at a petrol station in al-Amarat district of Sudan’s capital Khartoum on 10 June 2021. [ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images]

Hundreds of people poured onto the streets of the Sudanese capital on Thursday evening in protest at the government’s decision to lift all subsidies on petrol and diesel fuel. Protesters blocked roads and chanted anti-government slogans in Khartoum as well as Bahri and Omdurman.

The organisation behind the protests is the Sudanese Professionals Association. “Protesters are against the starvation policy announced by the government,” it said. The SPA called on all Sudanese stakeholders to side with the people and join the movement against the government’s policies.

Fuel prices have doubled in Sudan since the government scrapped all fuel subsidies on Wednesday. This was the latest in ongoing fuel price hikes since October 2020, when the government announced that it would gradually lift subsidies in line with the reforms monitored by the International Monetary Fund.

Sudan has one of the highest inflation rates in the world. It devalued its currency sharply in February.

Sudan: 36 killed, 32 injured in tribal clashes in Darfur

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.