Sudanese military firm agrees to give up civilian business

Sudan’s information ministry says one of the country’s largest military companies has agreed to gradually hand over its civilian operations to the finance ministry, with the aim of eventually converting it to a public shareholding firm.

If completed, the spin-off of Defense Industrial Systems’ civilian business could help ease the tension between the civilian and military elements of Sudan’s transitional government.

Many civilian politicians view the opaque business activities of the country’s military as inappropriate and complain its profits are not included in the state budget.

On Wednesday, the company hosted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other ministers after extending a rare invitation to civilians to tour its facilities on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum.

“This is a new partnership between the military and civilian components that produced the great December revolution,” Information Minister Hamza Balol said on Wednesday, referring to the overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir.

Sudan’s military has been under domestic and international pressure to increase its transparency and contribute more to the national economy. Like many other large enterprises owned by the military, the company has yet to release its finances or disclose its holdings to the public.

“The Sudanese public will now be able to benefit from this company,” said Minister of Finance Gibril Ibrahim, citing its work in the petroleum, railway and agricultural industries.

“It is important for the company to explain to the people what it does and what it owns and what it hopes to achieve.”

Economic crisis

Sudan’s military overthrew al-Bashir in April 2019 in the wake of mass protests that had begun the previous December. After months of wrangling, the general agreed to share power under a hybrid military-civilian transition that is scheduled to last until elections are held in late 2022.

But the economic woes have persisted, with the government suffering from chronically low revenue.

Authorities have also been struggling with a huge budget deficit and widespread shortages of essential goods, including fuel, bread and medicine.

The Central Bank of Sudan in February sharply devalued the currency, announcing a new regime to “unify” official and black-market exchange rates in an effort to overcome the economic crisis and access debt relief.

The economic crisis has led to protests, sometimes violent, similar to those that deposed al-Bashir.