PROFILE - Sudan's new Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM (AA) – Sudan’s opposition alliance has chosen 61-year-old economist Abdullah Hamdok as prime minister, the first civilian to hold the post in 30 years.

He was sworn in late Wednesday in the first step towards implementing a power-sharing agreement between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and will serve for three years and three months, after which elections are scheduled to be held.

Hamdok, who also holds British citizenship, has a PhD and MA in Economics from the School of Economic Studies at the University of Manchester, U.K. and earlier graduated from the University of Khartoum.

He is Sudan’s first civilian prime minister since military officer Omar Al-Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989, toppling elected Prime Minister Alsadig Almahdi and ruling the country for 30 years. Hamdok, who was then working in the finance ministry, was sacked from his position because he was not affiliated with al-Bashir’s Islamic movement. He also turned down al-Bashir’s invitation to head the ministry in 2017.

Hamdok previously worked as principal policy economist for the African Development Bank and was chief economist for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). He also served as director for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), an economic development program of the African Union, and regional director for Africa and the Middle East at International IDEA, an intergovernmental organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world.

He also has more than 30 years of experience in the areas of public sector reforms, governance, regional integration and resource management in many African countries including Zimbabwe, South Africa and Ethiopia.