Sudanese Minibus Drivers Wait Five Hours for Fuel
A 40% hike in bus fares follows as transport operators struggle with scarcity and rising costs.
By Marco Kapoor ·
A single wait for petrol can top five hours in Sudan, forcing drivers to idle their vehicles for days at a time. In Port Sudan, Azhari Mohamed, 60, spends two days working and one waiting in line for fuel. He drives a minibus carrying eight passengers between the Shagar neighborhood and the city center, making seven round trips daily from 6 am to 9 pm. His vehicle burns 11 liters of petrol each day, which costs 105,000 Sudanese pounds, or $11.30 at the parallel-market rate. When the fuel runs out before he reaches the pump, he returns to the back of the queue.
Fuel prices vary by location, with a gallon costing 40,000 pounds in Gazira State and 35,000 pounds in Port Sudan. After covering operating costs, Azhari takes home about 50,000 pounds daily to support his wife and a daughter in university. He told Al Jazeera that he simply needs fuel to be available so he can work.
The scarcity has driven up costs for passengers. This month, Sudan's Transport Chambers Union raised intercity bus fares by 40% and minibus fares by 30%. Aziza Ibrahim, 38, cleans for a living in Port Sudan to support four children. She has cut her work schedule to three days a week because travel now costs too much. Her daily round trip to the city center station requires 11,000 pounds, a sum that eats nearly half of her 400,000-pound monthly salary. She sometimes borrows money to get to work and repays the loan when she is paid.
The United Nations Development Programme reports that the war has pushed average incomes in Sudan back to 1990 levels. Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces began on April 15, 2023. The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum valued war-related losses at $20 billion last year. The World Bank noted that attacks on the Balila oil field disrupted supplies to the Khartoum refinery, which previously met about 60% of national demand for petrol and liquefied petroleum gas.
Sudan now relies on imports while a global fuel crisis raises prices. Economic analyst Sidi Ohaj said government rules requiring importers to deposit 200 kilograms of gold in the Central Bank and own storage facilities have reduced supply. Some importers left the market because they could not comply. Ohaj argued that the government should ease import procedures. He also cited drone attacks on infrastructure and the war between the United States and Iran as factors disrupting global energy markets.
Traders are passing higher costs to consumers. Ahmed al-Haj, who packages skincare products in Omdurman, said moving a tonne of goods costs 30% to 50% more due to higher diesel and petrol prices. Local deliveries that once cost 5,000 pounds now run 10,000 to 12,000 pounds. Goods are piling up at traders' premises because transport workers are making fewer trips.
