Present in Paris, on May 17, as part of the international conference for Sudan, the transition authorities in place in Khartoum since the fall of Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir in April 2019, have had no words strong enough to greet this event. This allows the country to reintegrate the international community after chaotic decades punctuated by wars, especially in the province of Darfur, and the military dictatorship. The supporters of the new regime, in this case Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdallah Hamdok, respectively president of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council (CSS) and prime minister, intended to take this opportunity to mobilize resources which are currently sorely lacking.
Therein lies the whole paradox of the situation: the politico-cultural revolution that took place from December 2018 against the backdrop of the economic crisis did not significantly improve the lot of the 42 million Sudanese. The context has even worsened with the Covid19 pandemic. With a gross national product per capita (GNPH) of $ 440, the country remains one of the poorest states on the planet, but also the most indebted. The recession recorded for three years now plunges to 8%. Inflation climbed from 61% in 2019 to over 230% last year. The immediate environment, which borders with Chad, the Central African Republic and Libya, is most disturbed.
Hailed by Emmanuel Macron as the symbol of “the struggle of the people for their freedom and dignity”, the Sudanese revolution nevertheless carries the hope of a radical change after thirty years of dictatorship. “This conference is a decisive step,” insisted the French head of state, who was the first Western leader to receive Abdallah Hamdok, in September 2019, while canceling France’s $ 60 million debt. “It marks the re-engagement of the entire international community by your side because you had the courage to stand up and carry out the first reforms. This transition is offered as a model for the world, “he insisted from the Grand Palais Ephémère located near the Champs-de-Mars.
After the cancellation of the bilateral debt, France announced its willingness to pay off the debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by granting Sudan $ 1.5 billion in the form of a loan. An announcement made by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, at the start of the afternoon. For its part, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is planning to reorganize its debt estimated at $ 430 million. The United Kingdom as well as the Netherlands have made their contribution to cancel the debt to the World Bank.
These initiatives should allow Sudan to quickly re-enter international funding channels. Despite the economic vagaries, “we are moving in the right direction”, ruled President al-Burhan before adding: “we are proud of the historic role played by the country’s armed forces, which are the guarantors and protector of the democratic transition ”.
Prime Minister Hamdok, meanwhile, has rolled out a program in the form of some of the most ambitious promises. “We will work for peace, the eradication of corruption, human rights, the inclusion of women and young people, public and religious freedoms. We have already initiated the reform of the security and judicial apparatus “.
Behind these commitments, the objective aims to reach the completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, which would allow the country to benefit from a support and recovery program. “We inherited a very complicated situation characterized by sixty-five years of conflict. But we are embarking on a journey full of challenges. We are determined to turn the page of the past to experience lasting peace as well as development, ”concluded the head of government at the end of the conference. Like twenty other countries on the African continent, Sudan will participate, on May 18, in the conference on new modes of financing African economies which is to be held at the same site.
