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Khartoum (AFP)
Sudan’s historic peace deal with rebels that seeks to end decades of war will cost $ 7.5 billion, the finance minister said, a huge sum for the poverty-stricken nation.
Under the October 3 agreement between Khartoum and a coalition of rebel groups, the government pledged to fund major development projects in areas ruined by years of war, including the western region of Darfur.
“The implementation of the peace plan requires at least $ 7.5 billion over 10 years,” Heba Mohamed Ali Ahmed said, according to Sudanese media reports on Friday.
Ahmed made the announcement a day earlier during a discussion with governors and local officials.
Sudan’s economy is in crisis, sunk by long years of civil war under Bashir, US sanctions and the 2011 secession of the oil-rich South.
Last month, the government declared a state of emergency to avoid a new recession.
The peace agreement covers a number of sensitive issues, from land ownership, reparations and compensation to the sharing of wealth and power and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons.
Under the agreement, the government will immediately pay $ 300 million to rebuild Darfur, Ahmed said, followed by payments over the next decade totaling $ 1.3 billion.
“The Ministry of Finance must create a favorable investment environment in order to encourage the national and international private sector to invest in less developed regions,” he added.
Sudan’s rebels come largely from minority groups that fought against marginalization under the regime of ousted President Omar al-Bashir.
The economic difficulties, which sparked the protests that led to Bashir’s ouster in 2019, remain a major challenge.
“The success of a peace plan depends entirely on how to solve the basic problems that have caused the war and conflict,” said Ahmed.
© 2020 AFP
