SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Stratfor - After Decades, Sudan May Soon Be Open for Business

20/5/19: Stratfor – After Decades, Sudan May Soon Be Open for Business

 Stratfor argue that Sudan has the potential to be Africa's next economic success story, should a civilian-led government emerge and trigger Sudan’s removal from the US’ terrorism designation list.

 Stratfor highlight potential civilian-led government’s reforms aimed at removing bureaucratic roadblocks to business and investment. This could see normalized relations with the international community, which would attract international suppliers, and support a tourism sector “brimming with opportunity.”

 Peace talks with Darfur rebels would open up Sudan’s untapped mining market, providing Sudan’s new leadership a chance to use gold reserves as a guarantee to secure international financing. Attention may also be turned to infrastructure, previously neglected under Al Bashir’s government.

 However, Stratfor note risks that a booming Sudanese agriculture industry may incur, citing potential tension with Egypt over the flow of Nile water, and Sudanese workers feeling aggrieved at their exclusion from projects.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: AP - Sudanese general's path to power ran through Darfur

20/5/19: AP – Sudanese general’s path to power ran through Darfur, by Samy Magdy and Joseph Krauss

 AP chart Himedti’s “meteoric rise” to deputy head of the Sudanese transitional military council, and highlight his perception among Sudanese protesters.

 Magdi el-Gizouli, a scholar at the Rift Valley Institute, links Hemedti’s rise to the military’s outsourcing of the Darfur  conflict to local forces, arguing that “[Himedti] is the reason why the rebellion in Darfur was defeated, because he was capable of recruiting an efficient fighting force that knew the local terrain well.”

 AP state that, despite protests against the military, “there have not been widespread calls for Hemedti to step down,” with El-Gizouli saying that “many people, including some of Sudan’s finest democrats, consider him a counterweight to the Islamic movement.”

 Shamayel el-Nour, an activist with the Sudanese Professionals Association, which spearheaded the demonstrations said that “the protesters recognize his refusal to use force against them, but in Darfur he is viewed as a war criminal.”