Yesterday, Sudan’s Trade and Industry Minister, Madani Abbas Madani unveiled a plan to address long queues at bakeries. The Minister further said that Sudan aims to achieve “justice” in distributing subsidies. This comes at a time when the country is faced with an economic crisis and soaring inflation that reached 50.6 percent in 2019, according to the World Bank.

The Minister also declared that the transitional government will continue to subsidise bread prices during its 3-year period. He, however, hinted that Sudan had enough reserves of wheat to last it until May this year.

This move by the transitional government, which prioritises the needs of the people above economic gains, is a commendable one. In December 2018, the government of former President Omar al-Bashir made an unfortunate decision to triple bread price in the country. A decision which did not sit well with the people, prompting a massive protest that led to a nationwide demonstration which eventually saw the ousting of al-Bashir’s 30-years reign in April 2019.

A military transitional council immediately took over the reins of government from al-Bashir in after his ousting. However, protests demanding a civilian transition government that would pave way for a democratic government began. Later, in August 2019, a  transitional government was formed after prolonged talks with the military, protesters and activists. 

Sudan has been economically unstable for over 50 years. Its economic woes can not only be pinned to one political leader, rather, to constant movement from one political ideology to another. Research shows that the instability of politics in the country which fluctuated between democracy and military rule with each having its own ideas, principles and economic policies caused the inconsistency, randomness and uncertainty. The nation’s economic policies have fluctuated from capitalist, socialist and Islamic ideologies. 

Political instability has discouraged private investments, discouraged confidence and productivity in manufacturing and construction and ultimately created a weak business environment in the country. This ushered in a contraction in its GDP by 2.4 percent in 2019. The World Bank has further projected that a further contraction of 1.6 percent will occur in 2020 and 0.8 percent in 2021 “due to the political situation, tepid domestic demand, and weak private sector investment.”