Sudan, following Washington’s decision to remove the country from the list of terrorism-sponsoring states and restore its sovereign immunity after almost three decades of deprivation, has added two new agreements to its package of deals with the US.
When US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin visited Khartoum last week, in the first steps of economic cooperation between Khartoum and Washington, Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Export-Import Bank.
At a ceremony in Khartoum on Thursday 7 January 2021, Hiba Muhammad Ali, Sudan’s finance minister, signed a memorandum for Sudan, while Kimberly Reed, the bank’s chairperson, signed it.
The memorandum will enhance economic partnership between the US and Sudan, by aiding trade and business development openings, “including but not limited to projects related to infrastructure, energy, agriculture and health care.”
“We signed an agreement with the EXIM Bank for $1 million, and it is a new step to strengthen the Sudanese-American relations through partnerships on various tracks” Mr Hiba said.
EXIM President and Chairperson Kimberly Reed said her country and Sudan are committed to economic reforms that will pave the way for economic reform by outlining these agreements.
As part of a trip to the Middle East, Mr Mnuchin visited Sudan. But it was described as historic by Sudan’s Prime Minister, Abdallah Hamdok.
The MoU will see Sudan benefit from a $1.2 billion emergency loan and financing facility to pay Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank, allowing Sudan to begin the debt relief path and benefit from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative or HIPC.
She said this agreement helps to reach the decision-making point for the HIPC initiative, which will open the door to 35-year IDA grants and soft loans and a 10-year grace period of approximately $1.5 billion annually to finance major infrastructure projects throughout Sudan.
Minister of Justice Nasredeen Abdulbari said the Ibrahim Accords were signed by the Sudanese government to promote peace and tolerance among the people of the region.
According to The EastAfrican, on December 14, 2020, Washington formally removed Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and restored Sudan’s sovereign immunity a week later, indicating additional support for Mr Hamdok’s transitional government in Sudan.
