Sudan exports plunge after protesters block main trade artery

Sudanese exports plunged in January after anti-government protests blocked the main trade route to neighboring Egypt. 

Exports plummeted 85% to $43 million last month from a year earlier, according to government trade data seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by a Finance Ministry official.

The drop is the latest sign of strain in Sudan’s economy, four months after a coup derailed a democratic transition in the North African nation. The Sudanese pound has weakened 16% aainst the dollar on the parallel market on the streets of Khartoum, the capital, since the Oct. 25 military takeover, and the country is suffering a chronic shortage of foreign exchange.

Anti-government protesters in Sudan’s Northern State have barricaded several sections of a main road used to send goods including sesame seeds, livestock and peanuts to Egypt, its third-biggest trading partner according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They oppose both the military takeover and the Egyptian government’s support of the junta, said Wail El-Imam, a spokesman for the demonstrators.

“We want to pressure the coup regime both politically and economically,” El-Imam said.

Since mid-January, police have repeatedly removed barricades blocking the only main road linking Sudan to Egypt, only for protesters to set them up again in different locations.

Mohamed Hamad Bakr, a Sudanese exporter of livestock, said he had lost millions of Sudanese pounds due to the blockade, previously exporting between 1,000 and 1,500 animals daily between the two countries.