Sudan factories struggle to restart after devastating wartime losses

Ao vivo Clique aqui para pesquisar Inscreva-se Menu de navegação seta-esquerda seta-direita Notícias | Guerra do Sudão Fábricas do Sudão lutam para reiniciar após perdas devastadoras na guerra A guerra deixou trabalhadores sudaneses desempregados e consumidores enfrentando preços mais altos enquanto as fábricas lutam para reabrir.

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But when fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, production ground to a halt, like thousands of other businesses across the country.

More than three years later, Gaily faces the challenge of bringing his business back to life. Production may have resumed, but the factory is only operating at 40 percent of its previous capacity.

Gaily’s troubles are typical of Sudan’s devastated manufacturing sector. Before the war, Khartoum was one of the country’s main industrial centres, home to factories producing food, textiles and other consumer goods.

No entanto, Khartum tornou-se um grande campo de batalha entre a SAF e a RSF durante a guerra, e embora tenham ocorrido apenas ataques esporádicos desde que o exército a recapturou totalmente no ano passado, o setor industrial não foi reconstruído.

According to Sudan’s Ministry of Industry, approximately 1,800 industrial facilities have been damaged during the war, including 650 factories that were completely destroyed.

The figures illustrate the scale of the challenge facing a sector that is essential to employment, domestic production and economic recovery.

Abdulelah Mohamed possui uma fábrica de produtos plásticos e reciclagem em Khartoum. Ele descreve a situação como catastrófica.

The damage extends beyond buildings and machinery. Raw materials, finished goods and equipment have been destroyed or looted, while electricity shortages, damaged transport networks and rising import costs have made reopening difficult even for businesses whose premises survived the fighting.

Sara Elfatih Khalil, diretora executiva da Al Teital Advance Industries, está entre os fabricantes que enfrentam esses desafios. A fábrica da sua empresa em Khartoum produzia óleo de gergelim e, antes da guerra, empregava 300 trabalhadores.

Its warehouses have been looted during the fighting, and with damaged buildings and a supply chain that remains broken, the factory continues to be shut down.

Para Gaily, restaurar a produção em sua fábrica de doces exige um suprimento constante de ingredientes, incluindo gergelim e açúcar, além de embalagens, peças de reposição, eletricidade e trabalhadores.

Disruption to any of these can bring production to a halt.

Other manufacturers face similar obstacles. Some now must import materials that were previously available locally, increasing costs and making production vulnerable to further disruptions in transport and supply.

The problems also extend to financing. Businesses that have lost machinery, stock and income during the war often lack the capital needed to replace equipment and pay for stock and employees before sales resume.

As consequências se estenderam aos trabalhadores que dependem das fábricas para seu sustento.

Mohamed Haj is a worker who lost his job at a different sweets factory in Khartoum North and has struggled to find alternative employment.

No outro extremo da cadeia de suprimentos, os lojistas estão lutando com a disponibilidade reduzida de produtos fabricados localmente.

Abdelgadir Mohamed, who sells sweets and other consumer products in Bahri Central Market, said the disappearance of many Sudanese-made products has made it harder for traders to source stock.

Imports have partly filled the gap, but for shopkeepers this can mean higher purchasing costs and uncertain supplies, and for consumers already facing a decline in purchasing power, that adds pressure on household budgets.

Os serviços são críticos para os fabricantes que esperam retomar as operações, mas os proprietários de fábricas dizem que a reconstrução exigiria mais do que apenas restaurar a infraestrutura.

Muitos proprietários de fábricas precisam de capital, e representantes da Câmara de Comércio Sudanesa dizem que as empresas precisam de assistência real e prática, em vez de apenas promessas das autoridades.

Economist Mohamed Elnayer believes reconstruction offers an opportunity to address longstanding weaknesses in Sudan’s industrial economy.

Before the war, Khartoum was the industrial heart of Sudan, with the country’s factories largely concentrated inside it. That caused an inequality in opportunities between Khartoum and the rest of the country before the war, but a different problem arose during the conflict, when the capital became a major front line.

Muitas fábricas foram destruídas e saqueadas como resultado, e analistas como Elnayer acreditam que o setor industrial deve ser reconstruído em todo o Sudão. Isso serviria ao duplo propósito de evitar qualquer futura paralisação do setor industrial caso as hostilidades voltem a surgir na capital, e também de espalhar benefícios econômicos pelo país.

For Gaily, those broader economy questions are inseparable from the practical challenge of keeping his factory running.

He hopes to repair the machinery, secure the ingredients needed to manufacture sweets and bring his former employees back.