Abu Dhabi boosts financial assistance to Sudan
The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development said on Monday it has provided $556.6 million to Sudan in monetary, economic, and other forms of aid, and said it will continue to provide assistance to Sudan to complete a $1.5 billion grant the UAE committed to last year.
That total included a previously announced $250 million deposit in Sudan’s central bank, as well as $119.8 million in budget support. The aid also included 540,000 tons of wheat worth $144.7 million, medical aid worth $19.75 million and educational aid worth $11.4.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel will send $5 million worth of wheat to Sudan.
“We are looking forward to a warm peace and are sending $5 million worth of wheat immediately to our new friends in Sudan,” Netanyahu’s office said on Twitter.
Sudan has embarked on a rocky transition under a joint civilianmilitary administration since the April 2019 ouster of Omar Bashir, but it has struggled with severe economic woes, including a sharp depreciation of the Sudanese pound and skyrocketing consumer prices. A tripling of the bread price late in
2018 was the initial trigger for street protests against Bashir that led to his ouster.
The country consumes 2 million tons of wheat annually, according to official figures, relying heavily on imports.
“Israel will be working closely with the USA to assist Sudan’s transition,” Netanyahu added.
The UAE and Bahrain signed an accord at the White House last month to normalize ties with the Jewish state, but Sudan carries added symbolism as an Arab nation that has been at war with Israel. News of the Sudan-Israel normalization came on Friday, shortly after US President Donald Trump declared that Washington was formally moving to delist Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, a designation that strangled Khartoum’s economy for decades.
Sudan will be only the fifth Arab country to forge diplomatic relations with Israel.
“Soon an Israeli delegation will meet in Sudan with a Sudanese counterpart in order to discuss cooperation in many fields including migration, which we are discussing,” Netanyahu said, in remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting Sunday.
“We are expanding the circle of peace. Additional countries will yet join only if we consistently adhere to this policy.”
The move to normalize ties has laid bare deep societal splits in Sudan, with some calling it a betrayal and others viewing it as a way to save the sinking economy.