Oil deal no quick fix for Sudan crisis
The News reported that a last minute oil deal reached between Sudan and South Sudan offers no quick fix for Khartoum’s economic crisis and remains tied to progress on security issues. Analysts said that both sides agreed Juba would pay Khartoum a package amounting to about USD 3 billion as well as a per barrel […]
South Sudanese labour: refill the ‘kambo’
By Magdi El Gazouli Sudan’s major grain producers, the landowners of Gedaref, complained bitterly to the press this week of an acute shortage of labour and warned of yet another failed agricultural season. The local farmers’ union in the state reportedly lobbied the central government to sanction the employment of Ethiopian guest workers in order […]
Abbo: who is the ’revolutionary’?
By Magdi El Gizouli Instead of Sadiq al-Mahdi, the imam of the Ansar, it was Abd al-Mahmoud Abbo, the Secretary General of the Ansar Welfare Association, who led the prayer last Friday in Sayed Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi mosque in Wad Nubawi, Omdurman. For a few weeks the mosque became a refuge for the Girifna/ChangeNow crowd […]
Book Review: The Sudan Handbook
By Peter Elborn This is a book that is what it says on the label – it is a handbook. But that makes it sound like the dull product of a propaganda ministry and it is far from that. Indeed it is a collection of readable, thought provoking and intelligent essays that provide a thorough […]
Sudan: Reviewing The Addis Ababa Peace Agreements 2012
By Aly Verjee The maxim that the test of any agreement is in its implementation is familiar to those who follow Sudanese politics, even from a distance. This article reviews the latest agreements reached between Sudan and South Sudan on September 27 in Addis Ababa, brokered by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). […]
South Sudan: can Africa’s problem child grow into a valuable partner?
South Sudan's first year of life has been marred by political uncertainty, lawlessness and an oil dispute. Its east African neighbours are watching for opportunities but wary of investing. … Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute, says South Sudan risks becoming a "fulcrum of insecurity" and a conduit for weapons because […]
Sudan: Bashir – Sharia Shopping
By Magdi El Gizouli Obviously challenged by the stubborn show of anger against their long rule in the heartland of the country the high priests of the National Congress Party (NCP) shifted gears from unashamed dismissal to defensive posturing with sharia. “What is happening is a struggle between the camp of sharia and the camp […]
Conflict-hit Sudanese may go hungry despite aid deal
Hunger is likely to persist among people caught up in conflict in Sudan’s border states, despite a government promise to allow food relief into areas that aid groups warn are on the verge of famine. Sudan agreed on June 27 to a plan proposed earlier this year by the African Union, United Nations and Arab […]
‘It’s Basically Over’: The Sudanese Dictatorship’s Dwindling Options
On September 27, one of the most repressive governments on earth was thrown a lifeline. After an eight-month standoff that ravaged the two countries' economies and brought them to the brink of war, North and South Sudan resolved a long-simmering dispute over how to divide their oil revenue, the primary source of tension after the […]
The Yarmouk Complex – Sudan in the World
By Magdi El Gazouli Sudan's Military Industry Corporation (MIC), established according to its website in 1993, has as its motto the phrase 'for peace we gather all our effort'. The phrase mocks the fact that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) which grew out of the Egyptian-clad and British-disciplined Sudan Defence Force (SDF) has been consumed […]