Four years of US grain and financial aid for Sudan
The Reuters agency reported from Khartoum that on Monday 14 December Sudan's finance minister, Heba Ahmed, made public from her post in office the aid the United States is going to give to the African country over the next four years. Cereals and other products, in addition to financial aid to ease the burden of Sudan's foreign debt, were described by the minister as the main focus of this aid.
Sudan's recent removal from the list of countries that promote terrorism drawn up by the United States has enabled the country to open up its economy without restrictions. In 1993 the African country was placed on the list under President Omar al-Bashir, who was accused of genocide by international organisations and expelled from power by the army in 2019.
However, the creation of the current Sudanese transitional government was not enough to remove it from the list. It also agreed to compensate the victims of the 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania with $335 million. Not to mention one of the main US constraints: the establishment of relations between Sudan and Israel.
Despite their reluctance, Sudan has opted for caution and the foreign minister, Omar Qamaraldin, says that they will wait "until Sudanese democratic institutions, including Parliament, are formed to decide on the ratification of this agreement so that relations can be normalised".
This aid, announced by the acting minister, follows on from the $20 million aid to the UN World Food Programme for Sudan announced by the United States last November, which also includes countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Israel - the latter with a contribution of $5 million.
Sudan faces significant food insecurity. About seven million people are at severe risk, 16 percent of the population. The crisis in the country, coupled with the recent rainy season, has accentuated this problem. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has focused on a country where 17 out of 18 states have suffered from flooding. According to the Sudanese Ministry of Agriculture, some 2.2 million hectares of farmland have been damaged.
On the other hand, Sudan has an external debt of 60 billion dollars. Being included on the list of countries promoting terrorism limited for a long time the aid it could receive from the United States and the international community in terms of foreign aid, debt relief or military assistance. Thus, after his departure, the outlook changes for the African nation.
The minister Ahmed also announced US aid of $1 billion to relieve the country of the debt it had incurred. In this way, Sudan already has access to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's programme for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), designed to alleviate the debt burden, and in which countries mainly from the African continent participate.
All in all, the minister's announcement seems to be in keeping with the cooperation stemming from the agreements reached recently with the United States. The establishment of relations between Israel and Sudan, albeit temporary owing to the Sudanese political situation, and the payment of compensation as a bargaining chip for Sudan's removal from the US list, opens up Sudan to the international community. An end to restrictions that may be in the interest of the African nation.
