Sudanese Journalists Syndicate says RSF abducted journalist Aqueel Ahmed from his home in Khartoum

From LinkedIn post

By Hassan Ahmed Berkia

News Editor, Internews 

Dated Friday, 19 January 2024 - here is a full copy:

According to the Sudanese #journalists Syndicate,  #RSF unit abducted journalist Aqeel Ahmed from his home in Al-gaili area north of #Khartoum yesterday, Thursday, and took him to an unknown location.

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NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Abductions happened during the Bashir era, civilians forcibly taken without warning to secret locations where they were imprisoned and tortured. It is difficult to know what is going on in Sudan. Out of curiosity, after some online searches, I found the following info on the difference between a failed state and a collapsed state. Now I am interested in finding out who makes the call and what happens next. 

• A state is generally considered to have "failed" when it is no longer able to consistently and legitimately enforce its laws or provide its citizens with basic goods and services.

• A collapsed state is a term used to describe a situation where a sovereign state undergoes a sudden dissolution of its institutions and authority. It is often used to describe extreme situations in which state institutions dissolve rapidly. When a new regime moves in, often led by the military, civil society typically fails to rally around the central government, and societal actors fend for themselves at the local level. The term is often used interchangeably with “failed state” and “fragile state” According to foreign policy experts such as Charles T. Call, a collapsed state is defined as “countries whose state apparatus ceases to exist for a period of several months”.

Apologies for not citing sources, I lost track in my search for the info.

ENDS

South Sudan: Peace remains elusive with conflict leading to increased casualties and displacement

Durable peace in #SouthSudan remains elusive with intercommunal conflict leading to increased civilian casualties, displacement & an escalating risk of sexual violence. #UNMISS peacekeepers have scaled up patrols + community engagements to protect civilians, shore up confidence. pic.twitter.com/OqN9OxDhxE

— UNMISS (@unmissmedia) May 8, 2023

South Sudan: More than 50,000 refugees arriving

"We are talking about more than 50,000 refugees and returnees, the majority of whom are returnees.” Albino Akol Atak - The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management #SouthSudab #SSOT pic.twitter.com/nM5FfWoap2

— Eye Radio (@EyeRadioJuba) May 9, 2023

Sudanese Pound hits record lows against world currencies - Committee to investigate El Fakhir

The rate of the Sudanese Pound (SDG) is trading at all-time lows on the streets of Khartoum. There is no end in sight for the ongoing economic malaise in the country – largely a legacy of the corruption and mismanagement by the deposed Al Bashir regime – that has led to unrelenting price hikes for consumer goods, and widespread shortages of bare essentials such as bread. Read more.

Sudanese Pound hits record lows against world currencies

Report from and by Radio Dabanga.org

Dated Thursday 27 February 2020

Photo: A man waits for his money at currency exchange brokerage in Khartoum (Photo: ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP)

(KHARTOUM) - On Wednesday [Feb 26], traders in Khartoum were asking SDG 107 for one US Dollar (USD) the highest cost for the greenback to date. By comparison, today’s official daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) is SDG 54.63.

According to dealers who spoke to Radio Dabanga, Pound Sterling (GBP) reached SDG 136.74 on the parallel market, while the price of the Euro reached SDG 114.48. Saudi Riyal (SAR) reached SDG 28.26 on, while the Emirati Dirham (AED) reached SDG 29.04, and the Qatari Riyal (QAR) trades for SDG 29.07.

The head of the Flour and Fuel Distribution Unit in South Darfur announced that the quantities of flour available in the state do not exceed 3,000 50 kg sacks, which is not enough for a day.

He attributed this to the departure of three of the five companies that supplied flour to the state.

In a meeting with the flour distribution mechanism on Tuesday, the acting governor of the state, Maj Gen Hashim Khaled, harshly criticised the mechanism for not notifying him earlier of the seriousness and exacerbation of the state’s bread flour crisis.

Rising commodity prices

Members of the Sudanese Professionals Association of the Ministry of Finance in Kassala accused the state government of causing the price of 50 kg bag of sugar to rise from SDG 1,850 ($33.86*) to SDG 3,100 ($56.74).

In a statement, she stated that the state’s Ministry of Finance has sold a large amount of subsidised sugar, estimated at 32,000 sacks to merchants, expecting increase in sugar prices due to this procedure and demanded the governor of the state to direct the return of the sugar sold to the merchants immediately so that it can go to the target citizen in the specified manner and the specified price, threatening to follow the legal means to return it.

They also demanded the formation of an investigation committee to find out those responsible administratively for this administrative corruption that occurred and hold them accountable immediately.

As reported by Radio Dabanga on February 13, Sudan’s Minister of Industry and Trade Madani Abbas, has apologised to the Sudanese people for the lack of a solution to the bread shortage. He affirmed the state’s commitment to continue subsidising bread until the end of the transitional period. The government currently subsidises a sack of flour by more than SDG 1,600 ($30).

Economists

In recent days, independent economic experts have cited the instability of the Dollar exchange rate and subsidies as major factors in Sudan’s economic crisis.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Professor Hamid Eltigani, economist and Head of the Department of Public Policy and Administration at the American University in Cairo.

He describes the economic situation as “dangerous”. He warns against “an explosion in the country” in case the economic crisis is not dealt with. He calls for a gradual lifting of subsidies on petrol and diesel, and normalisation of the exchange rate between the Sudanese Pound and the US Dollar.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga this week, former banker and civil society activist Hafiz Ismail, who is a leading member of the Sudanese panel of experts, says that “the current economic crisis is attributable to the lack of vision and the absence of an economic plan to manage the crisis”.

Ismail warns of economic collapse in the country due to the rapid deterioration in value of the Sudanese Pound “around the clock”. He expressed concern that the economic failure would “neutralise the public towards the government and increase the growing rejectionist trend“.

The analyst told Radio Dabanga that the Sudanese economy suffers from two distortions, namely commodity subsidy and multiple [Central Bank of Sudan, customs, and unofficial] exchange rates, and calls “for the development of policies to mitigate harm to the most affected groups through social security networks in preparation for the lifting of subsidies”.

In a separate interview with Radio Dabanga, Professor Hamid Eltigani, economist and Head of the Department of Public Policy and Administration at the American University in Cairo.

He describes the economic situation as “dangerous”. He warns against “an explosion in the country” in case the economic crisis is not dealt with. He calls for a gradual lifting of subsidies on petrol and diesel, and normalisation of the exchange rate between the Sudanese Pound and the US Dollar.

* USD 1 = SDG 54.63 at the time of publishing this article. As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).

View Original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudanese-pound-hits-record-lows-against-hard-currencies

NEWS HEADLINES

March 8 - 2020 KHARTOUM

Sudan: FFC, SSC and the cabinet working together to address the economic crisis
Further, the committee is authorised to form a fact-finding committee to investigate the El Fakhir company, which is reportedly monopolising the gold market in the country with large amounts of cash and the purchase of gold at unreasonable prices.

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Sudan’s sorghum production one third less than last year

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Gold mining to continue in West Darfur’s Sirba

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Sudan Finance Minister apologises for govt's inability to curb inflation

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Violence in Central Darfur: Five people killed, two injured, police station torched

March 5 - 2020 KHARTOUM

Activists criticise Sudan’s committee tasked with purging remnants of old regime

March 5 - 2020 KHARTOUM

Sudanese Pound hits new low as US Dollar and gold prices soar

Sudan: Economist: Plunging Sudanese Pound leading to economic collapse

A leading economic analyst has called for a programme to stabilise commodity prices and the US Dollar exchange rate in Sudan, warning of economic collapse and loss of public confidence in the transitional government. Read more.

Economist: Plunging Sudanese Pound leading to economic collapse

Report from Radio Dabanga.org

Dated Tuesday 25 February 2020

Former banker and civil society activist Hafiz Ismail, who is a leading member of the Sudanese panel of experts, says in a new interview with Radio Dabanga, that “the current economic crisis is attributable to the lack of vision and the absence of an economic plan to manage the crisis”.

Ismail warns of economic collapse in the country due to the rapid deterioration in value of the Sudanese Pound “around the clock”. He expressed concern that the economic failure would “neutralise the public towards the government and increase the growing rejectionist trend”.

The analyst told Radio Dabanga that the Sudanese economy suffers from two distortions, namely commodity subsidy and multiple [Central Bank of Sudan, customs, and unofficial] exchange rates, and calls “for the development of policies to mitigate harm to the most affected groups through social security networks in preparation for the lifting of subsidies”.

Ismail expressed concern that social security in Sudan is being obstructed by what he described “a corruption machine”, and stressed the need to start fighting corruption, while identifying clear mechanisms to implement the programme.

He calls for a unified currency exchange rate to curb the accelerating deterioration of the Pound. He called on the government to accelerate the changes of bank managements and the departments of Ministry of Finance at all levels, in addition to comprehensive tax reform to prevent tax evasion.

The former banker also stressed the need “to focus on investment in agriculture as a sustainable resource”, and “the need for the state to dominate the gold sector as a public resource, legalise prospecting, and allocate 50 per cent of production to the state with an appropriate proportion to be allocated to exploration areas”.

As reported by Radio Dabanga on February 9, Sudan’s Anti-Corruption Committee has dissolved the administrative board of the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) and 11 other banks and dismissed nine bank managers with alleged links to the deposed Al Bashir regime. The decision also dissolves nine administrative boards of directors of corporations, and removal of a number of directors of other institutions.

Sudan’s Anti-Corruption Committee (The Empowerment Elimination, Anti-Corruption, and Funds Recovery Committee) has issued a decision to form sub-committees in all states to be chaired by the governor of each state.

View Original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/economist-plunging-sudanese-pound-leading-to-economic-collapse

Sudan: Bread subsidy to continue during the transition - 1 person killed by security forces in Kosti

BBC News report by Mary Harper,

Africa editor, BBC World Service

Dated Wednesday 12 February 2020

Sudan: Bread subsidy to continue

Sudan says it will continue to subsidise the price of bread during the transition period.

Trade Minister Madani Abbas Madani said the country had sufficient wheat reserves to last until May.

On Tuesday, there were large protests in the capital, Khartoum, and other towns against shortages of bread and fuel.

There are reports that one person was killed by the security forces in the town of Kosti.

Demonstrations in 2018 about the rising cost of bread and other essentials escalated into the mass political protests that led to the downfall of President Omar al-Bashir last April.

View Original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cq23pdgvgm8t/sudan

£18M UK aid for South Sudan’s humanitarian catastrophe: 7M need aid, 2M on brink of famine

SOUTH SUDAN is a humanitarian catastrophe and vulnerable people face the daily threat of starvation.  There are currently 7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and nearly 2 million people on the brink of famine in South Sudan, where food insecurity is at its worst level in the past 8 years.  Hundreds of thousands of people in South Sudan will receive lifesaving food and water thanks to new UK aid. 

Press Release

From UK Department for International Development (DFID)

Dated Wednesday 14 August 2019

UK aid to provide vital food to hundreds of thousands of people living on the edge of famine in South Sudan 

LONDON, United Kingdom, August 14, 2019/APO Group/ -- Minister for Africa, Andrew Stephenson announced an extra £18 million of UK aid on his first visit in his new role, which will be given to trusted partners to help vulnerable families in desperate need.

There are currently 7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and nearly 2 million people on the brink of famine in South Sudan, where food insecurity is at its worst level in the past 8 years.

Minister Stephenson called on the Government of South Sudan and other parties involved in the conflict to stop obstructing the delivery of aid and step up efforts to help the millions of malnourished children, families and communities get access to vital supplies.

He also called on the Government to accelerate progress on the peace process, including security sector reform, establishing an open dialogue with opposition leader Riek Machar and delivering on the $100 million they pledged to help achieve peace.

Minister for Africa, Andrew Stephenson said:

South Sudan is a humanitarian catastrophe and vulnerable people face the daily threat of starvation.

I have seen first-hand that UK aid is saving lives and today’s step up in support will deliver urgently needed food, water and health services to hundreds of thousands of people.

We call on the Government of South Sudan to immediately lift all humanitarian access restrictions and to commit more resources to provide basic services such as health and education to give people hope for the future.

With just three months until the formation of the transitional government, time is running out. Significant effort and compromise are required to fully implement the peace agreement.

While in South Sudan, Minister Stephenson visited the World Food Programme’s warehouse in Juba to see first-hand how UK aid is helping save the lives of people who have fled conflict.

He also visited the Juba Protection of Civilian’s camp to learn about the key challenges of displacement in the country, as well as meeting with British soldiers deployed to the UN Peacekeeping mission there.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Department for International Development (DFID).

SOURCE:  https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/uk-aid-to-provide-vital-food-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-people-living-on-the-edge-of-famine-in-south-sudan?lang=en