Sudan signed an agreement with the US Treasury and the World Bank to relax its high levels of debt

US and World Bank in favour of Sudanese debt relief

photo_camera PHOTO/BERND JUTRCZENKA - The Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin landed in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, on January 6 to sign the agreements reached in December, when the US concluded to remove the African country from the list of countries promoting terrorism. 

The Memorandum of Understanding between Sudan and the United States includes the granting of a loan of some $1.2 billion, according to Europa Press, to settle Sudan's arrears with the World Bank. Sudan's total external debt amounts to $60 billion

After meeting the prime minister of the Sudanese transition government, Abdalla Hamdok, the president of the Sovereign Transitional Council, Colonel Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and various ministers, Mnuchin announced the US Treasury's commitment to support not only Sudan's arrears to the international financial institutions but also to promote relief of Sudan's debt in 2021.

This understanding continues the path of relations that have developed between the two countries in recent months. About a month ago Donald Trump's executive decided to remove Sudan from the list of countries promoting terrorism after 27 years, since it was introduced in 1993.  

However, there were some conditions to be met by the African country in order to be removed from the list. The conditions accepted by the Sudanese transitional government included the payment of $335 million in compensation for the attacks on US embassies and ships between 1998 and 2000. And, undoubtedly, the most important condition of the agreement: the normalisation of Sudanese relations with Israel. 

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The Trump Administration thus enlisted another country that recognises one of its main allies in the Middle East: Israel. Mnuchin himself praised Sudan's efforts to get off the list of countries promoting terrorism. 

The meeting held in Khartoum also served this purpose. The so-called Abraham Accords sealed the future collaboration between Israel and Sudan. Mnuchin also took the occasion to stress the opportunities afforded by the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Things have changed for Sudan since the former president, Omar al-Bashir, who has been in power since 1989, was overthrown in April 2019. After protests began in the streets in 2018, the military staged a coup, leading to the establishment of a transitional government headed by Hamdok and elected by a Sovereign Council made up of five military members, five members of the civilian Forces for Freedom and Change and one member agreed upon by the parties

Its mandate is regulated by the Constitutional Charter and would end in the 2022 elections. Hamdok's executive is thus committed to dismantling the corruption of Al-Bashir's government, reforming the judicial system and managing the deep economic crisis. 
 
For the time being, and despite the political differences and criticism of the military by certain groups of the governing coalition –Forces of Freedom and Order–, Hamdok and the Sovereign Council have succeeded in removing themselves from the list of countries promoting terrorism and receiving financial assistance. However, in exchange for certain conditions that have been assumed by the Sudanese rulers.  

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