On May 17 Sudan was the center of attention at a Paris meeting on debt relief. There, the African country’s debt to the IMF was cleared, using the technicality of creating a new “bridge loan” of $1.5 billion from Paris Club member countries, which took the debt off the IMF books and put it on those of the individual countries. In addition, France announced its “intention” to write off $5 billion of its outstanding bilateral debt to the nation, as did Italy, Germany and Norway, for a total of $6.8 billion (China has also forgiven a portion of its bilateral loans to Sudan, but was not at the Paris meeting). This leaves Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as Sudan’s largest creditors, each with nearly $10 billion.
All this showering of favors was necessary in order for Sudan to do two things: First, they will now be able to start paying on debt owed to private lenders, that couldn’t get paid as long as the IMF debt (which has priority for payment) was non-performing. Sudan will also now qualify for the IMF’s program for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), under which — provided that Sudan further agrees to eliminate fuel (and possibly food) subsidies, and devalue its currency! — it will be qualified for new debt.
The geopolitics behind this is that, in November 2020, Sudan agreed to allow a Russian “naval facility and military base” to be built at Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, less than 200 miles across from Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It was Russia’s first military base on the continent (China’s sole African base is in Djibouti, since 2017). Suddenly Sudan became the West’s best friend and the target of a flurry of “diplomatic” activity, including visits by AFRICOM commander Gen. Steven Townsend, and AFRICOM “ambassador” Andrew Young, with Secretary of State Tony Blinken also having spoken with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok twice since taking office. In April, Sudan finally reneged on their agreement with Russia in the crudest fashion — literally waiting until the Russian vessel was about to dock before notifying it that it would not be allowed to unload its cargo of radar and other equipment.
Note that Sudan is also a key discussant in the Grand Renaissance Ethiopian Dam talks, with the White and Blue Nile Rivers merging at the capital city of Khartoum.
