Notes on President’s Visit to Sudan (*)
- World Bank Group is the largest development financing institution in the world.
- In the fiscal year ended June 2021, it committed over $98 billion in financing.
- This includes $30 billion from IBRD, $36 billion from IDA, $21 billion from IFC, and $5 billion from MIGA. The World Bank president visited Sudan in 1972, after the Addis Ababa Peace Agreement, and 1984. This year was the most important of the visits, because he gave his annual meetings positioning speech from Khartoum.
The Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF are a gathering of the shareholders and governors of the institution, which include Sudan. All other major development institutions and governments attend, and there are many important side meetings including G20.
It is a major gathering, and the World Bank President’s speech before the Annual Meetings is how the World Bank signals its position on the major development challenges that will be discussed at the meetings. His speech was about the upheaval and decline in development that has been the result of Covid 19. He lamented the reversal in development, economic progress, health, and education that resulted from the pandemic. But he also noted that there has been a great deal of innovation during the pandemic, especially as it relates to digital technology, and in some way the pandemic gives us an opportunity to make revolutionary progress in four areas:
- First, economic stability
- Second, leveraging the digital revolution
- Third, making development greener and more sustainable
- Fourth, investing in people. He spent a lot of time discussing human capital.
During his speech the World Bank President focused a lot on Sudan. He praised the progress the government has made with economic reforms during very difficult times, including Covid, floods, and regional conflict.
“Two Sudan’s transitional government inherited a deeply damaged economy and society that had suffered decades of conflict and isolation. Even as the people resolved to break with the past, Sudan faced extraordinary headwinds: from the COVID-19 pandemic, a locust plague, unprecedented floods, and an inflow of refugees escaping conflict from across the border.”
“Yet the country pressed forward with bold reforms, re-engaging with the international community, clearing World Bank arrears with the help of a U.S. bridge loan, and in June reaching the decision point for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries – or HIPC – initiative. I welcome Sudan’s progress in macroeconomic stabilization, including arrears clearance, unification of its exchange rate, slowing inflation, fewer shortages, and removal of fuel subsidies.”
While there is much work ahead, I commend the Sudanese authorities, civil and military, for their efforts and achievements in working together toward a country that is unified, tolerant, and can deliver a better future for all of its citizens. It’s critical to avoid political slippages because there is no development without peace and stability. I would also like to acknowledge the remarkable resilience of the Sudanese people – your drive to build a better Sudan despite the challenges is truly inspiring.
After his speech there was a panel discussion of talented young Sudanese, who reflected on the speech and their vision for how Sudan can make greater progress in development. The young Sudanese were very impressive and showed the world that the future of Sudan is in good hands.
The President’s meetings were on Thursday. He came with two Vice Presidents, Hafez Ghanem, the Vice President for Africa of the World Bank, and Sergio Pimenta, Vice President for Middle East and Africa for the International Finance Corporation, which finances the private sector.
The Vice President of IFC came a day earlier and met many members of the private sector, the Central Bank, the Sudan Business Federation, Banks’ Union and young entrepreurs.
The President’s first meeting was with the Prime Minister. In this meeting, the Prime Minister requests that the World Bank focus in five areas:
- Economic growth and the key drivers of growth.
- export-oriented agribusiness, technology, mining, infrastructure, and financial sector.
- Private sector reform.
- Peace Dividend and support for conflict-affected areas.
- Health and education
- Governance, Institutional and Administrative Reform
- Digital Economy
After this, the President of the World Bank visited an enrollment center of the Sudan Family Support Program in Bahri, which is also a vaccination site. He was able to see how the process works, including representatives of the telephone companies, banks, civil registry, and the project team. These are both projects that are supported by the World Bank financially and technically, and he was able to understand the issues that the teams are working on to make these projects successful.
He met with the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, and the meeting emphasized the need for political stability, and the strong link between peace and economic development. The meeting emphasized the need to focus on the conflict-affected parts of Sudan, as well as peace and development across the region.
Finally, the Prime Minister’s office hosted a dinner for the President of the World Bank and his team that featured music from across Sudan’s regions.
As the visit was happening, at the same time there was a UN high-level side event on Sudan. Taken together, you can see that Sudan is in an unusual moment in which the international community is really focused on helping Sudan’s transition succeed.
The Government and World Bank are now working together to prepare a package of projects that total over $2 billion, in health, electricity, water, agriculture, and tatistical capacity.
Million US Dollar Project Name Ministry
50 Data and statistics strengthening Central Bureau of Statistics
100 Women access to finance Ministry of Investment
and entrepreneurship project
300 Energy transition and access project Ministry of Energy
480 Horn of Africa Energy Project Ministry of Energy
50 Second Natural Resources Ministry of Agriculture
Management Project
65 ERF CRW Locust Response Ministry of Agriculture
300 Irrigation modernization, Ministry of Irrigation and
productivity improvement and agriculture Water Resources
200 Water supply services Ministry of Irrigation
and sanitation for resilience and Water Resources
75 Regional HoA ground water Ministry of Irrigation
for resilience initiative and Water Resources
200 Sudan sustainable livelihood project Ministry of Federal Governments
100 Additional financing emergency Ministry of Health
for covid response
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(*) The President of World Bank, David Malpass, has visited Sudan on Sept 29, 2021 (editor)
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