A 16- week long protest resulted in the end of Sudanese President Umar al Bashir’s 30-year rule. Will an intended two year- military rule improve the country’s economic interests in this time frame?
Sudan has oil and agriculture as her export earners and is specifically known for its Arabic gum export known as acacia gum. It produces about 80% of the world’s output.
The agriculture sector accounts for 39 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product employing about 80 percent of the population in the 1990s. In spite of crippling economic sanctions, the country still earned $4.1 billion in 2017.
In 1999, Sudan began crude oil exportation and over a period of 10 years, it enjoyed dividends owing to rising production and prices- translating into significant foreign direct investment for the country. The economic impact on its population of about 43 million was however, minimal- especially upon a South Sudan secessionist drive, in 2011.
In spite of efforts to manage the secession’s immediate and long-term effects, an interruption in South Sudan oil production worsened the economy’s realities.
Figures look grime with an unemployment rate of 12.70 percent and a 44 percent inflation rate projected to hover between 40 to 55 percent in 2020.
All eyes are on the transition government to turn the economy around in creating an investor-attractive environment, lift sanctions, reduce unemployment and ultimately improve the lives of every Sudanese.
The bane of Sudan ‘s economy stems from its heavy reliance on oil and uneven distribution of wealth, which according to the World Bank, is a huge economic challenge.
With Sudan’s status quo and going by antecedents from other African countries with similar political occurrences, time will reveal its economic effects.