KHARTOUM: The Sudanese military and security forces have a sprawling monopoly over the country’s economy, a system that must be tackled to restore the country’s transition to democracy, a report has concluded.
The report, by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), was published on Wednesday alongside a database that identifies 408 entities controlled by security elites, including agricultural conglomerates, banks, and medical import companies.
Under Sudan’s former civilian-military transitional government, which was tasked with guiding Sudan’s transition towards democracy, an anti-corruption committee was formed to confiscate assets from figures who made a fortune under the former President Omar al-Bashir.
Observers have argued that the confiscations struck at the core of the military’s patronage networks and played a significant role in compelling senior officers to topple the civilian administration in a coup last October, which has been followed by months of protests.
But C4ADS said that countries that seek to support democracy in Sudan have the tools to weaken the country’s “deep state”.
“Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and private companies have a role in dismantling Sudan’s deep state through economic sanctions, de-risked aid, and increased due diligence around private investments,” the authors of the report said. –Agencies
