The Sudanese Minister of Finance, Dr. Gabriel Ibrahim, reviewed his vision for the future of his country, stressing that the maximum priority is to end the war, followed by the stage of a comprehensive Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue that paves the way for the people to rule himself.
In a new episode of “concerned” podcasts, Dr. Gabriel Ibrahim, who heads the Justice and Equality Movement, highlighted his career full of transformations, from a remote clay village on the Chadian borders to the corridors of politics and economics in Sudan, through a rich academic and practical experience in Japan, Saudi Arabia and London.
The Sudanese minister dealt with the current economic conditions, acknowledging its difficulty due to the war, but he denied the existence of a comprehensive famine, pointing to the abundance of agricultural production and a major problem in delivering food to the affected people, as well as the roots of the conflict in Darfur, the backgrounds of the establishment of the Justice and Equality Movement, and his position on carrying weapons.
Dr. Gabriel Ibrahim began his speech, recalling his childhood in a small village near Al -Tina, adjacent to Chad, where the harsh life and a living. He said, “People move half of the day to reach the sources of water, and the last day of the day returns,” describing how he admired him as the old older brother to enrolling in the school.
He narrated how it was transferred between the internal schools from Al -Tina to Al -Fasher, then to the University of Khartoum, continuing a “east displacement” that was delivered to Japan, which some call “the country of cuckoo”, explaining that its real name “Wakoko” means “the land of peace”.
Ibrahim spent 7 years in Japan, where he studied the economy and mastered the Japanese language, which began to erode over time, he said. On his experience there, he mentioned how the Africans were a strange view of the Japanese, especially in the villages, where the children were gathering around them.
Economic formation and visions
After Japan, the Minister of Finance to work in Saudi Arabia moved for a period of 4 years, an economist at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, before returning to Sudan, where he was assigned to establish the “Azza” air transport company, which is the pseudonym that was called Sudan during colonialism.
Then he left for Chad and from there to the Emirates, before settling in London a refugee after the Sudanese government requested that he surrender, and explained that his accusation of supporting the revolution in Darfur was the reason behind the request for his delivery.
On the current economic conditions, Ibrahim acknowledged its difficulty, noting that most of the economic activity and sources of the state’s revenue were stationed in the capital, Khartoum, which was severely damaged, and stressed that the state did not reach zero in its revenues, and is currently dependent on its self -resources such as taxes, customs and returns of gold.
The minister denied the existence of a comprehensive famine, stressing that Sudan’s production of the grain exceeds the need, and that the World Food Program buys the atom from Sudan to export it, and attributed the scarcity of food in some areas to the practices of the “rebel militia” that prevent its arrival, as well as the loss of the purchasing power of the displaced citizens.
A vision for rebuilding
Dr. Gabriel Ibrahim presented his vision to rebuild the Sudanese economy, based on two axes: the first is to invest in “human capital” through specific education and health services, and the second is the development of material infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, railways, ports and services networks.
He referred to his ministry before the war to raise the share of education and health in the budget to 40%. To finance the infrastructure, he called for strategic partnerships with the construction and operation system and then transferring the ownership “BOT” (BOT), stressing the creation of the legislative environment for that.
Regarding external aid, he explained that the Western money is “institutionalized”, and that the support currently comes on a third party, often United Nations agencies, after the classification of change on October 25, 2021 a coup, and praised the relief support from the Arab and Gulf countries, Iran and Turkey.
War, politics and the future
The Minister of Finance touched on the ongoing war with the Rapid Support Forces, considering it a “major regional and international project” and that rapid support is “just a tool used”, linking the conflict to ambitions in the Red Sea coast and Sudan’s water, agricultural and metal resources, and perhaps by trying to “cover the issue by fighting political Islam.”
Regarding the situation in Al -Fasher, the city’s steadfastness stressed in front of repeated rapid support attacks, saying, “It will not fall, God willing,” referring to its historical symbolism as the capital of the Darfur region.
On his position on military rule, Ibrahim said that with the civil rule completely, and that the current circumstance imposed a military presence in power, the war extended his life.
He expressed his confidence in the ability of the Sudanese people to change the military systems through the revolutions, expecting a comprehensive Sudanese-Sudan dialogue after the war to draw a road map towards free elections.
In response to the team’s statements about the performance of some ministers, Dr. Gabriel denied that he was intended, stressing that appointments in the state are subject to procedures and laws that limit the authority’s absolute authority, and that his powers in direct appointment are limited to 3 people.
The roots of the conflict in Darfur
Ibrahim returned to the emergence of the Justice and Equality Movement, stressing that it is a national movement, not tribal or regional, aimed at achieving balanced justice and development in all regions of Sudan. He explained that the idea of the movement has crystallized since 1995 as a result of a feeling of injustice and marginalization.
The minister revealed that he was “the only one who objected to carrying weapons” at the conference in which this was decided in Germany, preferring dialogue, but the majority of the majority was that the government at the time “only hears the voices of the defender.” Nevertheless, he stressed that he did not regret the option of armed rebellion imposed by circumstances.
He attributed the reasons for the conflict in Darfur to the feeling of injustice by the center in the distribution of opportunities and development projects, and sometimes the role of the government in “playing tribal contradictions and preferring components over another”, which led to a major murder.
Dr. Gabriel Ibrahim concluded his speech by emphasizing that stopping the war is the priority, and that the Sudanese people then “will rule themselves”, expressing their optimism about the future of Sudan despite the grave challenges.