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US settles the World Bank debt of Sudan

THE US and Sudan have agreed to settle the African country’s debt to the World Bank in a key step towards the nation’s economic recovery after the overthrow of autocrat Omar al- Bashir ( pictured).

The move came during treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin’s visit to Khartoum, making him the first senior American official to land there since President Donald Trump’s administration removed the African country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Mnuchin arrived at Khartoum’s international airport, where he was received by acting finance minister Heba Mohamed Ali and US charge d’affaires in Sudan Brian Shukan. It is the first visit by a sitting US treasury chief to Sudan.

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo in August became the first top American diplomat to visit Sudan since 2005, when Condoleezza Rice visited. Pompeo was also the most senior US official to visit the African country since last year’s ousting of Al- Bashir.

Mnuchin’s visit came after a one- day visit to Cairo, where he met Egyptian president AbdelFattah el- Sissi, a close US ally. The stops are part of a flurry of activity during the final days of the Trump administration. Democrat Joe Biden becomes president on January 20. The US treasury secretary will meet prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, and is scheduled to meet other Sudanese leaders including General Abdel- Fattah Burhan.

The visit came “at a time when our bilateral relations are taking historical leaps towards a better future. We’re planning to make tangible strides today as our relations enter a # NewEra,” Hamdok tweeted.