With transport routes between the Darfur region and the rest of Sudan severed during the April 15 war, traders across the region turned to neighbouring Chad and South Sudan to import fuel, foodstuffs, and medicines.
In late February, Chad announced the closure of its border crossings with Sudan following clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Supported Forces (RSF) in the frontier areas of Al-Tina and Mustariha. The Adré crossing briefly reopened on March 11, only to shut again a day later after airstrikes targeted the Adikong border market that same day. The repeated closures tightened the noose around fuel traders, making it exceedingly difficult to bring supplies into Darfur from Chad. Many were forced to reroute southward toward Souq Al-Na‘am, located in a demilitarized zone administratively affiliated to the disputed Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan. Others continued to rely on smuggling from Chad despite the closure.
As a result, fuel prices surged. A barrel imported from Souq Al-Na‘am rose from 1.25 million SDG in February to around two million SDG by April (1 USD = 3,350 SDG) for both gasoline and diesel. Meanwhile, diesel imported from Chad climbed to 1.75 million SDG (up from 1.4 million), and gasoline hit 2.2 million SDG (from 1.6 million), according to traders who spoke to Atar. Yet border closures are only part of the story; traders in South and Central Darfur point to a web of additional drivers behind the price hikes.
Why Are Fuel Prices Risng?
“Fuel prices in Chad are not this high, but the cumulative fees at checkpoints and markets are what drive prices up.
Mohamed Abia, fuel trader, South Darfur
Beyond the border shutdown, traders unanimously cite a proliferation of levies: market fees, checkpoint charges, and convoy protection costs, as a primary factor behind rising fuel prices. Others point to the fuel’s linkage to the U.S. dollar rates and the escalating cost of transportation.
Mohamed Abia, a fuel trader from South Darfur, described the issuance of receipts and fees as one of their most significant challenges. The route from Adikong to Nyala crosses three states: West, Central, and South Darfur, requiring traders to pay fees to the RSF’ civil administration’s “exchanges” offices in each state.
These charges lack a fixed rate, but Abia estimated they range between 20,000 and 30,000 SDG per barrel.
“Fuel prices in Chad are not this high,” he noted, “but the cumulative fees at stock markets and checkpoints drive prices up.”
Mohamed Ahmed, a trader from the locality of Bilel, attributes the surge to rising demand and Darfur’s growing reliance, along with Kordofan, on Souq Al-Na‘am as a primary supply hub. “Fuel is nearly unavailable there,” he said. “At best, we wait two to three days for tankers, which creates scarcity and drives demand higher.”
Ahmed added that currency fluctuations further compound the problem. Conversion between the Sudanese pound and the U.S dollar introduces additional costs, while transport routes are burdened by security fees, checkpoints, and rising freight charges. These include permits, zakat, taxes, local authority fees, and service charges, often bundled into a single payment that can go up to 30,000 SDG per barrel, paid to exchanges operating under the civil administration aligned with the Ta’sis alliance.
Abdel Razzaq Saikology, a fuel trader in Nertiti, Central Darfur, estimated permit fees alone at between 25,000 and 30,000 SDG per barrel. Transport costs have also soared.
“We used to move a barrel for 30,000 SDG, then it rose to 50,000, now it is 100,000 from Adikong to Nertiti,” Saikology told Atar.
Security risks further complicate the trade.
“In early March, my colleagues and I were robbed when our vehicle broke down between Zalingei and Nertiti,” he recounted. “Even the guards we had paid for protection colluded with locals to loot the truck.”
How Darfur’s Fuel Markets Function
We sell oranges to Chadians and buy fuel from them,
Abdel Razzaq Saikology, fuel trader, Central Darfur
In South Darfur, traders operate on a direct consumption model, avoiding storage for fear of airstrikes. This precarious system leaves prices highly sensitive to disruptions, particularly if transport convoys are intercepted.
Since the Chad border closure, Abia has shifted from Adikong to Souq Al-Na‘am as his supply source.
“We buy fuel there from Somali traders in dollars,” he explained. “There is a noticeable difference. In Adikong, fuel comes in sealed metal barrels while in Souq Al-Na‘am it is stored in plastic containers. A barrel should contain 16 jerrycans, but Somali traders reduce it to 14.”
Still, Saikology prefers smuggling from Chad, arguing that the route to Souq Al-Na‘am is too long and arduous.
“We sell oranges to Chadians and buy fuel from them,” he said.
His latest shipment in early April cost the equivalent of 1.75 million SDG per barrel of diesel and 2.2 million for gasoline, purchased in Chadian francs and subject to exchange rate fluctuations.
For Mohamed Ahmed, fuel is sourced from South Sudan, purchased in dollars at roughly two million SDG per barrel for diesel and 2.05 million for gasoline, plus the cost of hiring armed escorts for convoy protection.
In Agriculture: Cooking Oil as a Substitute
“What does fuel have to do with the tagliya stew I cook at home?” asked Noura from Nyala, visibly perplexed. The dish, typically requiring little more than onions, oil, and dried meat, has become indirectly more expensive.
“Even soap, if you go to buy it for 1,500 SDG and ask why, they tell you everything has become costly,” Noura says.
Abdel Nassir Mohamed, a fuel trader in Kass, offered an answer.
“Fuel is tied to every aspect of daily life. When its price rises, everything else follows.”
His customers include not only drivers but also farmers, mill operators, and owners of irrigation equipment.
“All these activities depend on movement and energy. As fuel prices rise, so do the prices of goods.”
I simply can’t afford to water all my land, what we produce no longer matches fuel costs.
Ahmed Hassan, farmer, Nyala
Some farmers, he noted, have resorted to using soybean or groundnut oil as a substitute for diesel, despite the damage it causes to irrigation pumps.
Farmers who spoke to Atar confirmed this practice. Groundnut oil is heated in barrels and mixed, often in equal proportions, with diesel to power irrigation pumps. To mitigate damage, they carry out frequent maintenance and prefer peanut oil over soybean oil, which they say is less harmful.
Ahmed Hassan, a farmer in Nyala cultivating onions, arugula and tomatoes, said rising fuel costs has forced him to scale back irrigation.
“I simply can’t afford to water all my land,” he explained.
Some farmers have reduced irrigation frequency, from three times a week to two, while others have switched to cooking oil or abandoned farming altogether.
According to Hassan, weekly irrigation costs per feddan range between 350,000 and 450,000 SDG.
“We need two to three jerrycans of diesel every week,” he said. “But what we produce doesn’t match fuel costs. A jerrycan costs 165,000 SDG, while a sack of onions sells for just 55,000. It is not viable.”
Saad El-Din Adam Haroun, a vegetable farmer in Nertiti, echoes these concerns. Rising fuel prices have sharply increased operating costs, particularly for running irrigation pumps and transporting inputs such as seeds and fertilizers.
“We have reduced cultivated areas and irrigation frequency,” he said. “This will inevitably affect production.”
Haroun noted that irrigation costs vary depending on crop type and water source but average between 190,000 and 220,000 SDG per feddan per week. Weather conditions also play a role: still air helps retain soil moisture, reducing irrigation needs, while wind accelerates drying.
Despite soaring costs, vegetable prices have not risen sufficiently to offset expenses.
“We continue farming because we have no alternative,” Saad said. “But if another opportunity arises, we would leave. It is no longer sustainable.”
Musallamat Abdelrahman, a farmer from Zalingei, said they now rely on communal labour (nafeer) and manual irrigation using buckets, alongside reducing cultivated land and watering frequency.
Noura, meanwhile, tracked the ripple effects in Nyala’s markets: soap has risen from 1,200 to 1,500 SDG; sugar from 1800 to 2300 per kilogramme; a pound of milk from 400 to 500; a pair of water jerrycans from 600 to 800; a pound of cooking oil from 2,000 to 2,550; and milling costs for malwa (local measurement, approximately 3 kg) from 1,200 to 1,800 SDG.
