Gulf states’ oil wealth ripples throughout rural Sudan
Across Africa, remittances-fueled economic development stands as an unrivaled alternative to the throes of unemployment and political instability.
“I like Abu Dhabi as much as I love Sudan. I always jokingly say Abu Dhabi is my father and Sudan my mother!” exclaimed Yousif Alhaj Ali.
Aged 56, he worked for 37 years as a plumbing supervisor in Abu Dhabi. Now, Ali expresses “indescribable gratitude” to the UAE in the clothing shop he opened in his native village of Tanoob, stocked with colorful shoes and children's clothing imported from the Emirati capital.
Ali is not alone in describing emotional ties with Abu Dhabi. Since the 1990s, remittances sent from the UAE have provided a lifeline to Tannoob. Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan with an iron fist for 30 years until 2019, cut off public funding for the village, and “migrating to the Gulf was the only way,” summarized Yousif Khair Allah Alsamani, a local leader.
Remittances had to be sent through informal channels, though. The U.S. added Sudan to its list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1993, because Sudan hosted Osama bin Laden in Khartoum in the 1990s. That cut Africa's third-largest country off from the global banking system until 2020.
