Sudan receives $1B in funding from US

By Nazek Shamam

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) - Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday with the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank) to obtain $1 billion in funding for financial support for American exports and investments in Khartoum.

It will allow the transitional government to obtain the funds, including loans and guarantees to finance US exports.

A separate statement by the Sudanese government said the document stipulates that the consensus between the two sides will determine projects that will be financed through the bank in infrastructure, agriculture, energy, mining, telecommunications and medical care.

Sudanese Minister of Finance Heba Mohamed Ali said economic cooperation between Sudan and the US will open economic horizons that will create job opportunities across the country through expected investments.

The MoU comes one day after US Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin visited Sudan and signed a $1 billion loan to pay the country’s debts to the World Bank.

Sudan's external debt of at least $60 billion impedes the process of economic development in the country that is also facing a crisis of a sharp decline in the price of its currency.

The US confirmed Sudan’s removal from the terrorism list in December 2019 after more than 27 years.

The EXIM bank is the official export credit agency of the US government. It was founded in 1934.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara