CECAFA Under-17 Championship (Hassan el Bashir Cup) kicks off in Khartoum, Sudan 19th August, 2009

The second edition of the CECAFA U-17 Tournament, all games were originally to be played in Nairobi, Kenya but have since been moved to Sudan due to financial reasons. The Sudanese FA and El Merreikh Investment Group have agreed to sponsor the tournament.

The cup is also referred to as the Bashir Cup and the Hassan el Bashir Cup by East African media due to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's involvement.

Source: Wikipedia

News just in from Sudan Radio Service, Wednesday 12 August 2009:
Cecafa Under-17 Fixtures Announced

(Juba, Southern Sudan) – Fixtures for the Cecafa under-17 tournament that will kick off in Khartoum on 19 August have been announced.

There are twelve teams participating in this year's tournament.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service from Juba, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Gabriel Changson Chang, said south Sudan is ready to host the tournaments.

[Changson Chang]: “The under-17 CECAFA championship is taking place in Sudan this year between 19th and 30th of this month and there will be three countries or teams and the three groups are divided into three areas. Group One will play in Juba. I think from the 19th for about nine days and then second group will be in Medani and the third group in Khartoum. The final will be played in Khartoum. Before we took the decision for Juba to host that group, the secretary of Cecafa paid a visit to Juba to check our stadium and pitches which he confirmed are suitable for the event. We have also opened four playgrounds for practices and then the main games will be played in the stadiums.”

Sudan is in group A and their first match will be on the 20th against Tanzania in Khartoum, and the second match against Somalia on the 22nd of this month.

Click on label CECAFA U-17 tournament in footnote below for news, fixtures and updates on footballing in Sudan.

Uganda/Sudan: Hippos to Be Based in Juba

AllAfrica.com - Andrew Jackson - ‎Aug 7, 2009‎

Kampala — Uganda's U-17 team, Hippos will be based in Juba, Sudan during the forthcoming Cecafa under -17 Challenge Cup (Hassan el Bashir Cup) that starts ...

Rwanda/Egypt: National Team Starts With Egypt in Cecafa U-17 Cup

AllAfrica.com - Ostine Arinaitwe - ‎8 hours ago‎

Kigali — The national Under-17 team will start their Cecafa Junior Challenge Cup campaign with a tricky test against Egypt. Rwanda is pooled in Group C ...

Kenyan teenagers pooled with Nigeria and Egypt for Cecafa

Daily Nation - Salva Kiir - ‎Aug 6, 2009‎

Both soccer powerhouses will be among the 12 teams that will take part in the two-week long championshipthat kicks off on August 19. ...

Uganda/Sudan: Hippos to Be Based in Juba AllAfrica.com

all 5 news articles »

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Hippos kick off with Kenya; Sekajugo on FIFA medical team

New Vision - Reuben Olita - ‎20 hours ago‎

uganda's Hippos will face Kenya in the first match of the CECAFA Under-17 soccer championships that kicks off in Juba, ...

Rwanda U-17 fine tune for Cecafa tourney

ThisDay - ‎Jul 29, 2009‎

RWANDA Under-17 national team head coach Michael Weiss is optimistic his youthful side can stage a strong challenge at next month's Cecafa Youth ...

Rwanda/Egypt: Junior Wasps Draw Egypt, Join Camp

AllAfrica.com - Bonnie Mugabe - ‎Aug 7, 2009‎

... Under-17 national team joined camp yesterday at Ferwafa headquarters to start final preparations for this month's Cecafa Youth Championship in Khartoum, ...

Twiga Stars need trials

ThisDay - Jimmy Tara - ‎Jul 27, 2009‎

... Rwanda next month, while Serengeti Boys have already started residential training for the Cecafa Youth Challenge Cup kicking off in Sudan on August 19.

Friday's all-important CAF Champions League clash against Sudan's Al Hilal

Update:  Click on label 'CAF Champions League' (in footnote here below) for latest news and results.

Photo: The coveted Champions League trophy (Source: football365.co.za)

Nigerian Premier League club Kano Pillars have revealed that they will play their upcoming CAF Champions League matches at night to accommodate Ramadan. Slovenian coach Ivo Sajh is confident his injured skipper Bala Mohammed will be ready for Friday's all-important CAF Champions League clash against Sudan's Al Hilal.

The Sudanese champions El Merreikh are bullish of their chances against their Zambian counterparts in this weekend's CAF Champions League clash.



Photo: El Merreikh F.C., Sudan (Source: Goal.com)

Ramadan runs from August 21 until September 21 and during that time both Zesco United and Al Hilal travel to Kano for Champions League fixtures.

See further details in latest news reports listed here below.

Photo:  Nigerian fan (Source: Goal.com)

Kano Pillars Sweat On Fitness Of Skipper Bala Mohammed

Goal.com - ‎57 minutes ago‎

Slovenian coach Ivo Sajh is confident his injured skipper will be ready for Friday's all-important CAF Champions League clash against Sudan's Al Hilal. ...

El Merreikh Confident Of Victory Versus Zambia's Zesco United

Goal.com - ‎1 hour ago‎

The Sudanese champions are bullish of their chances against their Zambian counterparts in this weekend's CAF Champions League clash. ...

CAF Champions League: Kano Pillars To Play Home Games At Night ...

Goal.com - ‎22 hours ago‎

The Nigerian club have a plan for their two home games in the CAF Champions League group stage, which will fall during the Muslim Ramadan fasting period. ...

CAF Champions League: Confident Kano Pillars Arrive In Sudan

Goal.com - ‎Aug 11, 2009‎

Nigeria's flag bearers fly into Khartoum ahead of the Champions League tie against closest rivals Al Hilal... A 35-man delegation of Nigeria's Kano Pillars ...

Night games on cards for Kano

Football365.co.za - ‎2 hours ago‎

Nigerian Premier League club Kano Pillars have revealed that they will play their upcoming CAF Champions League matches at night in order to accommodate ...

Zesco United Dealt Striking Blow

Lusaka Times - ‎19 hours ago‎

Zesco United have been dealt a big blow with the news that they will be without a key player for their Caf African Champions League Group A game against El ...

Kano Pillars cautions Zesco over El Merreikh match

postzambia.com - ‎Aug 10, 2009‎

NIGERIAN side Kano Pillars of Nigeria has cautioned Zesco United to be for Saturday's Africa Champions League Group A clash Sudanese side El Merreikh. ...

Pillars' Chigozie suspended for Al Hilal Champions League clash

Triumph - ‎Aug 10, 2009‎

Nigeria's Kano Pillars will be without their libero, Maurice Chigozie, for their all-important CAF Champions League Group A clash against Al Hilal of Sudan ...

All 8 related articles »

Security situation in Darfur - Aug 12, 2009

During the past 24 hours, the security situation in Darfur has been reported to be relatively calm.

UNAMID peacekeepers in West Darfur have been conducting farming patrols in a number of villages, including the village of Mabruka about 12 kilometres from El Geneina town, Albanjadid village and Mukjar as part of confidence building and to assist the local community during the rainy season.

While on patrol, the team interacted with the Government of Sudan police and the local community who confirmed that the security situation was calm in the areas.

UNAMID military and police continue to conduct patrols in and around the villages and IDP camps.

Advance party of Tanzanian battalion arrive to boost UNAMID deployment

The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) today received a boost in its deployment with the arrival of 200 personnel advance party of the first Tanzanian Battalion in Darfur. The primary responsibilities of the Tanzanian advance party will be to prepare the camp site for the arrival of the main battalion and to support the distribution of its contingent owned equipment (COE).

The main body of the Tanzanian Battalion is expected to arrive in the Mission by mid September. They will be deployed in Khor Abeche and Muhajeria in South Darfur.

Currently Tanzania contributes 13 Military observers, 14 staff officers, and 3 liaison officers to the Mission. Tanzania also contributes 29 police advisers. With the new arrival, the total number of military forces deployed in the Mission is 14,182, representing over 70% of its authorized strength.

UNAMID is mandated to assist the parties to the conflict in Darfur in implementing the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) and any subsequent agreement. It will do so through contributing to the protection of civilians and the creation of security conditions that would allow unhindered access for the delivery of humanitarian aid as well as the voluntary return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees to their homes, thus paving the way for the reconciliation and confidence building necessary for durable peace, security and stability in Darfur.

UNAMID Force Commander visits South Darfur

UNAMID Force Commander General Martin Luther Agwai today visited the South Darfur capital of Nyala, upon arrival, the Force Commander met with UNAMID officials who briefed him on the Mission’s operational activities including challenges and achievements made. During the visit, General Martin Luther Agwai inaugurated the Pakistani Level III hospital and also attended the medal parade organized in honor of the Bangladeshi multi-role logistics company.

Source: United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, August 12, 2009/(APO) - UNAMID Daily Media Brief/2009-08-12

Telecoms: 11.745mn mobile phone subscribers in Sudan at end of 2008

New report provides detailed analysis of the Telecommunications market.

From Press Office August 12, 2009
By Companiesandmarkets.com and OfficialWire
LONDON, ENGLAND

Sudan Telecommunications Report Q3 2009 (Business Monitor International)
Sudan Telecommunications: there were 11.745mn mobile subscribers in Sudan at the end of 2008 
Market: Telecommunications
Published Date: 15/06/2009
Report Title: Sudan Telecommunications Report Q3 2009
Table of Contents: View Table of Contents
Report Type: Market Report
Country: Sudan
Number of Pages: 49

By the end of 2008, there were 11.745mn mobile subscribers in Sudan at the end of 2008, giving a penetration rate of just over 30%. It is a country with exceptionally good growth potential, although new growth is inevitably going to put pressure on ARPUs. This is often the case as further expansion in the subscriber base means growing further into the bottom end of the market, capturing ever lower spending customers.

Sudan’s mobile operators are, however, whole heartedly pursuing this further growth, and with investments in expanding networks, a wave of expansion is taking place into rural regions, and the previously underserved, now semi-autonomous South. As well as being expanded into by Zain and more recently MTN, since January 2009, South Sudan has its own dedicated mobile operator. No results are yet available from Vivacell, but it is hoped to include them in our next update.

Q308 had seen a worrying slowdown in mobile growth in Sudan, but Q408 results have shown a fairly dramatic reversal of this trend, and we anticipate that 2009 will have an even higher growth rate than 2008.

Value-added services are not very well developed in Sudan. There is some 3G available, though the quality of service is apparently very limited, and in some cases restricted only to the postpaid subscriber base, which is minimal. MTN has hinted at some more investment in its 3G facilities in its end of year 2008 statement, but details are not available. There is some good potential for the operators to develop VAS, concentrating on the more developed areas and around Khartoum and elsewhere. This could help to counterbalance the move towards the lower end of the market in the growing subscriber base.

Fixed-line services remain something of a mystery, since there is no reliable information from either the operators or the regulator. Suffice to say that fixed-line services, even fixed wireless, are not very widespread. Internet service is even less common; broadband in particular had only an estimated 65,000 subscribers at the end of 2008. However, the country does claim 4mn internet users, so it would appear that the vast majority of people are making use of public facilities. This bodes well for future demand for internet services, but we do not expect broadband to become a widespread service for some years to come, with the cost remaining prohibitively high for most people.

Sudan Telecommunications Report Q3 2009: http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/r.ashx?id=D5O7X8KS185740

Contact
CompaniesandMarkets.com
Mike King
info@companiesandmarkets.com
Tel: +44 203 086 8600

SPLM's Pagan Amum: South Sudan threatens to declare independence

The BBC correspondent in Khartoum, James Copnall, said Mr Amum's comments - and maybe even the NCP's reported demands for the 75% threshold in the vote - can perhaps best be understood as part of the tough negotiations around this issue.

There has been a delay in passing the law which will establish the procedures for the referendum.

See full story here below from BBC News and Sudan Radio Service.



Photo: Pagan Amum, secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) says the governing party is laying down unfair referendum rules. (Getty Images/|BBC)

From BBC News at 17:45 GMT, Tuesday, 11 August 2009 18:45 UK:
South Sudan in independence threat

A senior politician in South Sudan says the south will declare unilateral independence if it does not get a fair referendum on the issue.

Pagan Amum, the secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, said the governing National Congress Party was trying to obstruct the vote.

He said the NCP was insisting that 75% of southerners vote for independence before the south could leave Sudan.

The NCP has not commented on the voting majority needed in the 2011 poll.

"We are warning the National Congress - we are also alerting the people of southern Sudan - that we have a serious problem," Mr Amum told the BBC World Service's Focus on Africa.

"The National Congress is poised to betray the people of southern Sudan again."

"We are not threatening anything at all," he said. "We are saying that any attempt to deny the people of southern Sudan the right to self-determination will force the people of southern Sudan to declare a unilateral independence."

'Simple majority'

Asked why he objected to the 75% figure being used and if he was afraid he could not reach that target, Mr Amum said: "We are not afraid of anything."

"We are saying the referendum should be a simple referendum like all referendum that have been conducted in the world. They have always been conducted with a simple majority."

There has been a delay in passing the law which will establish the procedures for the referendum.

The BBC correspondent in Khartoum, James Copnall, said Mr Amum's comments - and maybe even the NCP's reported demands for the 75% threshold in the vote - can perhaps best be understood as part of the tough negotiations around this issue.

The south is considered likely to vote for independence when the referendum does take place.

Many of Sudan's lucrative oilfields are in the south and this, along with national pride, means the north is keen to hold on to the vast if underdeveloped territory.

The 22-year war between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian and animist south ended in 2005, after 1.5 million people died.

Under the 2005 peace deal the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) formed a power-sharing government with President Omar al-Bashir's National Congress Party in Khartoum.

National elections are due in 2010, a year before the referendum on whether the south should secede.

From Sudan Radio Service, Tuesday, 11 August 2009:
SPLM Threatens to Declare Independence

(Khartoum) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement says that if the National Congress Party tries to obstruct the endorsement of the referendum law, southern Sudanese would table a parliamentary motion to announce the separation of southern Sudan.

The statement was made by the SPLM secretary-general Pagan Amum in a press conference held at party headquarters in Khartoum on Monday.

[Pagan Amum]: “The attempts by the NCP to impose unachievable conditions as a part of the referendum law, will not help the issue. If people do not get their interests in unity, they will get it in separation, if you (the NCP) try to escape from self-determination; the people will decide their determination using other ways, including the announcement of self-determination from inside the parliament. Don’t forget that we had the same experience before here in Khartoum, regarding unity between Sudan and Egypt, the government or the parliament decided to announce the self-determination from inside the parliament. ”

However, the National Congress Party has described Pagan’s statement as violation of the constitution.

Senior NCP official Mandour El-Mahdi spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum on Tuesday.

[Mandour el-Mahdi]: “Regarding the threat made by Pagan yesterday (Monday) that southern Sudan will go for other options including the announcement of self-determination inside the parliament according to what happened in 1955. We say that this is illogical talk, and talk that shows a threatening spirit and it is rejected by us in the NCP. If the SPLM is thinking of that, this issue will be considered as violation of the constitution and we will really consider it as an announcement of a new rebellion by some sons of the SPLM.”

Mandour explains the situation between the two partners in terms of endorsing the referendum law, and the difficulties which are facing them.

[Mandour el-Mahdi]:”First of all, we don’t know what is the nature of the obstacles that Pagan is talking about, we know that there are disagreements in some parts of the referendum law, not only between the SPLM and the NCP, but also between other political forces and the SPLM. The first issue is who qualifies and has the right to vote in the referendum. We say that all the southern Sudanese present in the south or in the north will have the right to vote. The SPLM is insisting that southern Sudanese in the north who want to vote for referendum, should go back to southern Sudan, and that is difficult.”

El-Mahdi said that NCP’s stand is that the self-determination will be achieved only when 75 percent and above of southerners vote for it.

[Mandour el-Mahdi]: “The second point is the issue of the referendum commission. There should be wide representation in the commission. We are talking about 15 members, and they (the SPLM) are talking about very limit numbers, 9 members. The third issue is the percentage by which the option of the separation will be determined; we think the issue of separation is a huge issue, so it can’t be determined by a simple majority, 50 percent plus 1. So our opinion is that the separation will be determined when 75 percent of registered voters from the south vote for the separation option.”

Mandour el-Mahdi was speaking to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum.

South Sudan Warns of Unilateral Secession

Voice of America - Alan Boswell - ‎19 hours ago‎

A senior South Sudanese leader has threatened the region may unilaterally declare independence if key disagreements over a scheduled ...

Unilateral Declaration of South Sudan independence has tough ...

Sudan Tribune - ‎7 hours ago‎

By James Okuk August 11, 2009 — Yes, when it comes to Secession and Independence of South Sudan, I will stand behind and beside Hon. ...

Sudan: South warns North over brazen propaganda ahead of crucial polls

Afrik.com - Konye Obaji - ‎7 hours ago‎

The Secretary General of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, Mr. Pagan Amum has raised the dust on Sudan's unity, by stating that South Sudan will ...

Fixtures of CECAFA U-17 football tournament in Sudan 19-31 Aug 2009

From Pana via Afrique en ligne, Wednesday, 12 August 2009:
Fixtures of Cecafa youth football tournament in Sudan

(Kenya) - Below are the fixtures for this month's Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) championships taking place in Sudan.

The regional event, known as the Cecafa U-17 tournament, is slated for 19-31 August in three Sudanese cities - Khartoum, Juba and Medani. It is being sponsored by Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir to the tune of US$ 700,000.

Aug. 19 - Ethiopia v Zanzibar (Juba 2.30pm); Kenya v Uganda (Juba 4.30pm).

Aug. 20 - Somalia v Nigeria (Khartoum 5.30pm); Sudan v Tanzania (Khartoum 9.30pm )

Aug. 21 - Zanzibar v Kenya (Juba 2.30pm); Uganda v Ethiopia (Juba 4.30pm).

Aug. 22 - Nigeria v Tanzania (Khartoum 5.30pm); Somalia v Sudan (Khartoum 9.30pm ),

Aug. 22 - Eritrea v Rwanda (Medani 5.30pm); Egypt v Burundi (Medani 9.30pm).

Aug. 23 - Kenya v Ethiopia (Juba 2.30pm); Zanzibar v Uganda (Juba 4.30pm).

Aug. 24 - Tanzania v Somalia (Khartoum 5.30pm); Sudan v Nigeria (Khartoum 9.30pm ).

Aug. 24 - Rwanda v Burundi (Medani 5.30pm); Eritrea v Egypt (Medani 9.30pm).

Aug. 25 - Rest Day.

Aug. 26 & 27 - Quarter finals

Aug. 28 & 29 - Semi finals (Khartoum).

Aug. 30 - Rest Day.

Aug. 31 - Third place play offs/Finals (Khartoum).

Click on labels here below for related reports and updates.

180,000 ex-fighters across Sudan will be demobilised under the DDR scheme

Over 5,600 ex-combatants were disarmed on Monday, 10 August 2009, through DDR scheme in Blue Nile state, E. Sudan.

It is hoped that eventually as many as 180,000 ex-combatants across Sudan will be demobilized under the DDR scheme.



Photo: Former SPLA soldier displays civilian ID card at launch of DDR in Ed Damazin (UN News Centre)

Source: UN News Centre, 11 August 2009 - excerpt:
First phase of ex-combatants’ demobilization wraps up in Sudan

Thousands of former fighters have taken part in the first phase of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programme, marking a key milestone for the 2005 agreement that ended Sudan’s north-south civil war, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country reported today.

The last of over 5,600 ex-combatants earmarked for demobilization were processed yesterday in the first phase of the DDR scheme in Blue Nile state, in Sudan’s east, according to the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which celebrated the achievement in a brief ceremony.

It is hoped that eventually as many as 180,000 ex-combatants across Sudan will be demobilized under the DDR scheme.

The joint North and South Sudan DDR commissions, along with UNMIS, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), are assisting with the process in Blue Nile.

Sign the Petition to support Lubna al-Hussein - Sudanese police call for Yasir Arman's prosecution

Yesterday, I signed a petition to support Sudanese journalist Lubna al-Hussein.

A Reuters report at The Washington Post on Tuesday says the Sudanese government has barred Ms Hussein from travelling abroad.

Hat tip: Sarah Mac of WIP TALK 11 August 2009.

Click on label - Sudan women 'lashed for trousers' - here below for related reports and updates.
- - -

From Sudan Radio Service, Monday 10 August 2009:
Police Call for Arman's Prosecution

(Juba) – Sudan police has opened a case against Yasir Arman, demanding that senior SPLM official should have his parliamentary immunity from prosecution revoked.

Following the trial of journalist Lubna Hussein on allegations of dressing indecently, Arman accused the public order police of blackmailing women in Khartoum.

The Sudan police have dismissed Arman's accusations, stressing that he should prove his allegations that police are blackmailing women in court.

The director of Sudan police information office, Colonel Abuobeida El-Iragi, spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum.

[Abuobeida El-Iragi]: “Following the accusation made by Yasir Arman against the public order police, that they blackmail the women, the police have opened a case in the office of the attorney general, the primary procedures have started in the investigation, and the police have demanded the revocation of Yasir Arman’s immunity, because he is a member of the national assembly. No one is above the law even if he is a member of the national assembly, this procedural immunity doesn’t prevent him from facing the legal procedure. This is a very strange behavior from a person who enjoys the membership of the national assembly and is a partner in this government, Arman is well-known for his animosity to the police. Arman has the responsibility of proving his allegations.”

Arman who is the head of the SPLM caucus in the parliament, has described the move by police as “political terrorism” by the NCP against some SPLM members.

Arman spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum on Monday.

[Yasir Arman]:”There are no accusations, the NCP are targeting some of us and they want to escape from the worthiness of the democratic transformation and implementation of the CPA by targeting some individuals and retaliating. The police should be professional and stop political retaliation. The NCP can not suppress me or stop our voices from calling for the democratic transformation and implementation of the CPA. If the NCP wants it or not, if they revoke my immunity or not, we will be demanding our rights and democratic transformation. This is just terrorizing and cheap political blackmailing, we are asking for the rights of the Sudanese people.”

Arman said that as the head of the SPLM caucus in the parliament, he has the right to criticize the failures of the country’s institutions.

[Yasir Arman: “There are lots of examples of women being blackmailed, like the case of the female journalist, or the hundred women from southern Sudan and the Nuba mountains who are being detained and blackmailed continuously in their residential areas. This is not the issue, the issue is that the NCP is dominating the civil service, the judiciary and the police, and wants to direct them in a political way for the sake of their own interest, and they don’t want to maintain its credibility. The NCP can not blackmail us, I’m the head of the SPLM caucus in the parliament, and I have the right to ask for correction in the situation of the national institutions.”

Yasir Arman was speaking to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum.

Sudan's huge White Nile Sugar Project

Sudan's huge White Nile Project involves the creation of another large scale sugar growing and refining operation, north of the original Kenana site. It is a colossal civil engineering project bringing together the specialist skills of companies from around the world. Read more at the website of Kenana Sugar Company.
- - -

From Sudan Online, Sunday 09 Aug 2009:
Steam Boilers to be installed at site of White Nile Sugar Projects to produce 104 Megawatts

The installation of the first steam boiler at the site of the White Nile Sugar Project has begun Saturday [08 Aug 09] as part of the plan to install 4 steam boilers to produce 104 Megawatt at the cost of 48 million Euros to be funded by the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah.

In this connection, Director of White Nile Sugar Project Hassan Abdul Rahman Satti addressed the installation occasion explaining that the power that would be generated from these steam boilers will cover the demands of the Sugar Factory, the irrigation projects as well as the residential areas at the site of the project, saying that the surplus will be exported to the national electricity network.

He revealed that the White Nile Sugar project aims at producing some 450,000 tones of white Sugar as well as 100 million liters of Ethanol and 1.5 million tones of processed fodders, explaining that the total cultivated areas of the project are 150,000 feddans (Acres).

Satti explained that the project is funded by the Government of Sudan, Kenana Sugar Company, the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development as well as the Central Bank and number of local commercial banks.

He revealed existence of loan agreements with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, OPEC, Saudi Development Fund, Islamic Development Fund and Abu Dhabi Development Fund.

Satti also explained that a regional purse was established to fund a developmental project at the site of the project with 100 million Dollars in which the Bank of Khartoum has contributed in this purse.   Source: SUNA

Click on Ethanol label here below for related news.

Uganda’s Under-17 football team prepares to compete in Sudan from August 19-31

From The Observer, Uganda by John Vianney Nsimbe, 10 August 2009:
National U-17 footballers face daunting task

Since finishing second at the Under-17 CECAFA Cup in 2007, Uganda’s Under-17 football team hasn’t been active. Richard Wasswa, the team’s coach suggests that it’s high time Uganda sets up regular under age competitions to keep the young players active.

As the team prepares to compete in this year’s tournament in Sudan from August 19-31, Wasswa told The Observer that without under age competitions, it becomes hard to spot players.

“The time has run out for us to start building a new team. It would have been easier if there were regular under age competitions where we would have spotted the best talent early on,” says Wasswa.

Wasswa concludes that it’s important that our young players get more competition so that they get experience before such major events. Guest teams like Nigeria and Egypt will grace this event. Uganda will be in group ‘B’ battling Kenya, Ethiopia and Zanzibar.

jovi@observer.ug

Sudan doors are open for foreign investments in the field of cement manufacturing

Pakistani company to establish 300 million dollar cement factory in Nahr Al-Nil State

Minister for Industry Dr. Jalal Yousuf Al-Degair has received at his office on Monday [July 2009] a delegation of the Pakistani Best Day Company, a company specialized in the production and marketing of cement. The Minister affirmed that Sudan doors are open for foreign investments in the field of cement manufacturing, which is now witnessing successive prosperity and growth.

The Minister has explained that his ministry plans to produce 30 million tons of cement to meet national projects needs and the construction revolution that engulf the entire country.

The Pakistani embassy Commerce Consul in Khartoum Faisal Iqbal, asserted the Best Day Company aspire to establish a cement factory in Nahrel-Nil State for the production of 450,000 tons of cement a year at capital of 300 million dollars, explaining that the feasibility study of the project had completed.

Source: Sudan Online 16 July 2009.

UNAMID commander Martin Luther Agwai called for an end to economic sanctions on Sudan

The outgoing commander of the joint African Union and U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur has praised what he sees as a warming of ties between the United States and Sudan. He called for an end to the economic sanctions, saying they were an impediment to peace and development in the region.

Source: Voice of America News - Conflicting Priorities Complicate US Policy Toward Sudan - by Alan Boswell in Nairobi, 11 August 2009.

High time to lift U.S. sanctions on Sudan (Ibrahim Adam)

Another must-read from Alex de Waal's blog Making Sense of Darfur:
High Time to Lift Sanctions
By Ibrahim Adam, August 14, 2008

The US government and the American people sincerely want to do the right thing by Sudan. Help turn it into a democratic, stable, equitable, prosperous and, preferably, united country. Trouble is they don’t seem to know how. At least that’s what it looks like judging by America’s neurosis with placing new, and keeping old, economic sanctions on Sudan, ultimately to make Sudanese President Bashir speed up the change.

US sanctions make steering Sudan on to the right track tougher, not easier. President Bush has belatedly realized it; too late for a U-turn, though, as his time in office is virtually up. So, it’s now up to presidential nominees Barack Obama and John McCain to realise US sanctions have actually damaged US interests by inflicting harm on, not help to, Sudan. And high time the American public does likewise, and supports lifting the sanctions quickly.

Take Darfur. The US government and public bought quickly into rebel claims of deliberate, long-standing economic neglect by President Bashir as moral justification for war. But it wasn’t the unwillingness, rather the inability of the Khartoum authorities till a few years ago to stump up money to develop Darfur, or anywhere else in the country, owing largely to tight US sanctions.
Successive American governments since President Reagan have steadily cut off all financial aid to Khartoum, and have toughened bilateral trade and investment sanctions to hobble public finances further, especially since 1997. The US government has also persuaded Western allies to follow its lead on cutting financial help and the World Bank, too. It stopped loans to President Bashir’s government 15 years ago; Sudan’s last dime from the IMF came back in 1985.

US-led isolation meant the Sudanese government got, for example, just $56 million in foreign budgetary support during 1994-1998 according to IMF data. At roughly forty cents per person per year, that’s hardly enough for the government to build some roads and a couple of schools in Darfur, never mind cater for all Sudan.

US economic sanctions have also hiked the cost of living for ordinary Sudanese – their main gripe with government. They de facto forced the authorities to pursue an economic rescue (read liberalization) programme, but without the standard donor-funded social safety net. Worse still, President Bush and his predecessor, Bill Clinton, have both pushed the IMF to chase payment of Sudan’s $1.7 billion odious debt, incurred by President Nimeiri during 1969-85.

Khartoum has paid an average $52 million back to the IMF every year since 1994, mainly late interest fines. That’s a very harsh anti-development tax on all Sudanese, especially without even the guarantee of fresh loans from the Fund in the future.
Don’t be fooled by today’s oil-induced boom. US economic isolation of Sudan worked a treat for nearly 20 years: petrol shortages so severe that even the capital lacked proper bus transport, and basic items like sugar and bread rationed.

Protracted, severe constraints on public finances in one of the world’s largest (10th), but poorest countries (141 out of 176 in the 2006 UN Human Development Index) could only ever lead to one outcome. Crystallizing or, in the case of Darfur, reviving older badges of identification (kinship, religious, locality and ethnic ties), due to the collapse of public investment and welfare spending over most of the last two decades.

Eroded nation-state loyalties usually tend towards war against the state or other groups, both evident in Darfur, to grab a larger share of public funds and other valued resources (e.g. land, water, and livestock). In other words, the impact of US sanctions on livelihoods battered the social fabric of Sudan - Darfur included. And not malign neglect by an Arab supremacist, psychopathic state caricature beloved of Congress, Hollywood activists, think tanks, and the media in the US.

‘Excess’ deaths from US sanctions – those who may have lived if sanctions had not crippled clinics and other vital public services – probably runs into the hundreds of thousands. That’s a tragedy of the first order, especially as Sudanese (who, presumably, supporters of the sanctions claim to act in their name?) never demanded economic isolation from the US in the first place, unlike the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid grassroots movements in South Africa. Take note: no Darfur rebel group called for sanctions either, making their tightening by President Bush and US activist-led Sudan disinvestment campaigns since the conflict started look at best misguided or, at worst, self-indulgent to the majority of Sudanese.

So, what’s in it for either John McCain or Barack Obama to lift the sanctions from Sudan? Big dividends. It would give President Bashir political space to hasten changing Sudan to an equitable, democratic country, as specified by the landmark 2005 north-south Sudan peace agreement – the policy anchor of US government.

Removing sanctions would help Sudan’s political institutions mature, too. The deafening criticism of Khartoum by Washington accompanying US sanctions often crowds out civil society and government discourse on other important, but ‘normal’, policy issues. Agriculture reforms, for example. US private investment into southern Sudan, thus far stifled by reputation risk fears, would also surely grow strongly following the abolition of the sanctions.

Sure, Khartoum now has access to money from China and, since 2003, sizeable oil revenue, with public spending on the poor doubled twice in real terms since 2005. Even so, it’s not enough to quench the urgent backlog of basic development needs throughout Sudan like railways, rural feeder roads, and maternity clinics; projects that help strengthen nationhood.

Yes, Sudanese need to take responsibility for their own predicament. They, after all, are the ones killing each other. But playing catch-up in the global race for economic development to lift millions out of acute poverty – the underlying driver of Sudan’s history of internal conflicts - is hard enough: more so when isolated from a quarter of the world economy. No need for either presidential nominee to wait until the AU-UN peacekeeping force deploys fully in Darfur before lifting the US sanctions; that will take at least another year – if it happens at all. The future President Obama or President McCain must both put the removal of US sanctions from Sudan at the very top of the US foreign policy in-box tray. It’s not about punishing or rewarding the government of President Bashir, but about recognizing the severe price ordinary Sudanese and the challenge of building a modern nation-state both keep paying for US and de facto EU sanctions.

Sanctions ‘101’, US presidential hopefuls: collective economic punishment is never a smart way to win the hearts and minds of people. Sudanese deserve the right to turn the page about the north-south civil war and other conflicts and move on – as most have done – with the hugely challenging task of reconfiguring the Sudanese state as per the CPA. So, help change Sudan into the country its citizens want it to become, and Americans wish it could be. Lift US sanctions from Sudan, future Mister President, because the victims of Darfur – like all Sudanese - are victims of them too.

The author is an independent economic and political consultant from and based in El Fasher, Darfur.

Further reading

Sanctions and Investment

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Sanctions and South Sudan: The Oil Factor

posted by Warwick Davies-Webb

Supporters of US oil sanctions on Khartoum, and who are in many cases supporters of the SPLM, are strangely silent with respect to its impact on South Sudan. Yet nowhere is the case of the “unintended consequences” of sanctions more clearly apparent than on this vital sector of South Sudan’s fragile economy.
US policy-makers [...]

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Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Narrowing the Escape from Poverty

posted by Ahmed Badawi

Helping Sudan turn into a democratic, stable, equitable, and prosperous country. That’s the ultimate dream end-destination; but there’s a huge problem with the US government’s wanton resort to placing sanctions on the Sudanese government: they have actually made steering Sudan on to that track tougher, not easier.
Sanctions have severely narrowed the escape from poverty for [...]

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Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Sanctioning the CPA: A Policy Conundrum for the U.S.

posted by M Karna L Cohen

Over the past twelve years, the U.S. has put forth a confusing array of legislation to impose economic sanctions on Sudan. Horrified initially by the Sudan government’s early support for international terrorism and, later, its behavior in Darfur, yet aiming to support the signed peace agreements, US policymakers have enacted a disconnected series of measures [...]

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Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Corporate Responsibility and the Goals and Tactics of the Sudan Divestment Campaign

posted by Adam Sterling

I hope to provide some comments that help clarify the goals and tactics of the Sudan divestment campaign.
In 2006, the Genocide Intervention Network launched the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF) to coordinate the developing Sudan divestment movement, which at the time consisted of varying, divergent approaches. Some states had adopted sweeping divestment statutes covering [...]

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Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

Have Activists Found A Soft Power Policy More Powerful than Sanctions?

posted by Tristan Reed

Apropos of Ibrahim Adam’s call to increase foreign direct investment in Sudan, it’s worth considering whether a strategy, pushed by American divestment activists, that bringing firms to the negotiating table offers a more productive soft power strategy than sanctions. In my view, there is a small chance that it does.
What began as a push by [...]

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Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

Sanctions and Targeted Divestment: Still Needed

posted by Daniel Millenson

On August 14th in this space, Ibrahim Adam argued for the removal of United States sanctions and an end to the international targeted divestment campaign meant to turn the screws on Khartoum. The argument is convincing only if you accept Mr. Adam’s implied premises: that the war in Darfur is merely a result of economic [...]

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Thursday, August 14th, 2008

High Time to Lift Sanctions

posted by Ibrahim Adam

The US government and the American people sincerely want to do the right thing by Sudan. Help turn it into a democratic, stable, equitable, prosperous and, preferably, united country. Trouble is they don’t seem to know how. At least that’s what it looks like judging by America’s neurosis with placing new, and keeping old, economic [...]

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