The ‘real politics’ of taxation in post-revolutionary Sudan

Even before the economic emergency that the country announced in September 2020, the Government of Sudan desperately needed stable revenue. For instance, the Sudanese Pound has been devalued at least four times since 2018 and officially inflation reached at least 230 percent in October 2020. But these already worrisome numbers fail to provide a full account of inflation rates throughout the country. The real exchange rate for US dollars (USD) to Sudanese Pounds (SDG), which impacts an estimated 90 percent of transactions within the country, paints an even more extreme scenario. In 2018 approximately 1 USD could buy 30 SDG whereas a dollar is now roughly equivalent to 270 SDG today.