Browsing: Investing in South Sudan

Sudan Prime Minister steps down following growing demonstration against a shared government. www.theexchange.africa

With over 5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves (as of 2016) that should be the story of Sudan, a story of wealth, not poverty, a story of prominence, not conflict, but the opposite is true.

Even though Sudan ranks an impressive 23rd in the world’s list of oil rich countries and accounts for about 0.3% of the world’s total oil reserves, the country continues to squirm in abject poverty.

 “The oil story in Sudan is one of controversy, a messy tale of money, conflict and power enmeshed in the country’s decades-long conflict,” writes Elzahra Jadallah in an article titled ‘The Dark Side of Sudan’s Oil.’

There are at least five major oil drilling and processing sites in the country and these are the epicentres of conflict both within Sudan and the seceded South Sudan. Since Sudan controls the only pipeline that both nations use to transport their oil, the …

In an unprecedented and rather unexpected move, in October 2020 US President Donald Trump went ahead and erased Sudan out of the US’ proverbial blacklist of countries that harbour terrorists or support terror groups. 

President Trump, who is not exactly known for his keen favour for Africa, took to Twitter to announce his decision to remove Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST). 

He said Sudan had proved itself a willing participant to change and fight against terrorism. He twitted that Sudan’s transitional government has agreed to pay a US$335 million package to US victims of attacks and their relatives.  

Also Read: Will South Sudan’s currency devaluation prove strategic or worthless?

The reparations package is to compensate victims and families impacted by a series of terrorist attacks, including the bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, and an attack