Mnuchin Talks Economic Aid in Visit to Former Pariah Sudan

(Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is holding talks with Sudan’s government, the latest U.S. official to visit the North African country that’s rebuilding ties with Washington after decades as a pariah.

Mnuchin met Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in the capital, Khartoum, shortly after his arrival on Wednesday. The premier shared a photo on Twitter of the delegation, describing U.S.-Sudan relations as taking “historical leaps towards a better future.”

The treasury secretary also signed a memorandum of understanding with acting Finance Minister Heba Mohamed Ali on a previously announced bridge-loan facility. That will clear Sudan’s arrears with the World Bank and allow the impoverished country access to over $1 billion in annual lending, her ministry said in a statement.

The U.S. in mid-December rescinded Sudan’s 27-year designation as a state sponsor of terror, paving the way for it to rejoin the global community and boost its ravaged economy after the ouster of long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Sudan weeks before agreed to establish official ties with Israel, a step no government of the Muslim-majority nation has ever taken.

Mnuchin’s also due to meet the chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the state-run SUNA news agency said before the visit.

Mnuchin arrived from Egypt, where on Tuesday he discussed with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi the Palestinian issue and the megadam Ethiopia is building on a Nile River tributary, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.

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