Decline in exports and imports during the first quarter of 2024
Sudan Events – Rehab Abdullah
Former Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce Ibrahim Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq revealed a decline in Sudan’s imports during the first quarter of 2024 by 65%, and a decrease in exports by 54%, according to a report by shipping companies.
He said in his interview to (Sudan Events ) on Saturday, “It is known that the first quarter of the year is the quarter of exports.”
Abu Bakr attributed the decline to the imposition of fees on exports, particularly clover after imposing $20 per ton, which led to exporters leaving the market permanently, which enabled Egyptian and French clover to enter the UAE.
Abu Bakr expressed his regret for the smuggling of export goods, noting that gum and sesame exports are now leaving Tripoli, and markets have been opened in Chad and South Sudan.
He affirmed that the war imposed priorities on them, including their personal livelihood, not export revenues, adding, “But despite that, the treatments carried out by the Bank of Sudan CBS were not sound,” and said, “Exporters should have been given a greater opportunity to try to return export revenues,” affirming that the two or three months that were granted were not sufficient.
He expressed his hope that officials at the Bank of Sudan CBS and the Minister of Finance would respond by sitting with exporters to discuss and reach solutions. Abu Bakr pointed out that a union of chambers of commerce has not yet been established and that there is no body representing exporters, despite his acknowledgment that the management of the Chamber of Commerce is now working on issuing certificates of origin and has developed them.
