Sudan takes center stage in US regional strategy
Khartoum gets a boost this week from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as US Sudan envoy tours the region; the latest Nile dam talks kick off in Kinshasa, Congo, on Saturday.
US-Sudan relations are in full turnaround from where they were two years ago. The transition is still fragile, but on a fast track, especially after this week.
A decision by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gives Sudan’s 44 million people a chance to break the cycle of chronic poverty and fragility.
And the visit to the region this week by US Sudan envoy Donald Booth also signals the increasingly pivotal role Khartoum plays in the region — especially in the regional Nile dam talks and addressing the civil war in Tigray, which has spilled over into Sudan.
The flurry of diplomacy comes as the risk of escalation grows. The latest round of African Union-mediated talks among the foreign ministers of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia are slated to start in Kinshasa on Saturday.
