In 2011, Ethiopia unilaterally began construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile, triggering a dispute between Addis Ababa and Cairo and, to a lesser extent, Khartoum. The dispute has raised fears of a wider conflict among Nile basin countries, as a series of diplomatic efforts have failed to produce any agreement for the management and sharing of the Nile resources, with the GERD now nearing operational status.

Το Κέντρο Μεσογειακών, Μεσανατολικών και Ισλαμικών Σπουδών και η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών διοργανώνουν εκδήλωση-συζήτηση με θέμα:

«Σουδάν: Γεωπολιτικές και ανθρωπολογικές προσεγγίσεις με αφορμή ένα ταξίδι»

Η εκδήλωση-συζήτηση θα πραγματοποιηθεί στα ελληνικά την Τρίτη 25 Ιουνίου στις 7.30 μ.μ. στην αίθουσα εκδηλώσεων του Ινστιτούτου Διεθνών Σχέσεων (Χίλλ 3-5, Πλάκα, Αθήνα).

Protests across Sudan are well into their fourth month, consistently defying President Omar al-Bashir’s suppressive response, as well as his superficial political appeasing efforts. That persistence, stemming from economic and political demands highly similar to those expressed in several Arab countries during the so-called “Arab Spring”, interestingly underscores a relevant continuity of the transformative dynamics that emerged back in 2011. In Sudan, similar peaceful revolts have twice -in 1964 and 1985- ended up in the collapse of military dictatorships. Nevertheless, despite the protesters’ determination, the existence of a particularly rigid pro-status quo regional political landscape further complicates the equation that could lead to actual political change. 

Once more Sudan is stricken by protest. Sudanese are on the streets due to the increase of bread prices. The government responded violently towards the dissent. Five people lost their lives, around 60 have been arrested including the leader of the Sudanese Communist Party Mokhtar al- Khatib, and the regime blocked the sale of several newspapers.

Economic reasons solely are behind the demonstrations. The prices of basic needs and commodities such as bread, medicine, electricity and fuel have increased in unprecedented levels. The government eliminated wheat subsidies from its 2018 budget. It’s adopting austerity measures in line with IMF recommendations, and inflation rose to 25 % making extremely difficult for ordinary Sudanese to buy imported goods. The country is also lacking hard currency to facilitate needed imports. The measures aim to make Sudanese economy more competitive since it can no longer depend on its oil resources since 2011 when South Sudanese separated, after a half century of war with Sudan. The longest Africa has ever seen.