Revival beckons for Sudan as US lifts economic sanctions

Nairobi

THE US removal of sanctions on Sudan may unlock the potential for the government to tap its rich mineral and agriculture resources. Now, the African state needs to carry out the large-scale reforms required to attract investors.

Former president Barack Obama's Jan 13 executive order reversed some measures put in place by the US in 1997, four years after it first listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism. It lifted restrictions on petroleum and petrochemical industries, including oilfield services and oil and gas pipeline transactions by Americans, and also allowed US citizens to process deals involving people in Sudan, and import and export goods.

Two weeks later, Sudan was among the seven mainly Muslim Middle East and East African nations whose citizens were barred from entering the US by President Donald Trump. Sudan's Foreign Ministry said it was "particularly unfortunate" that the decision coincided with the removal of sanctions and "just as economic and financial institutions as well as businessmen in the country were set to continue de…