Project to support the economic transition in Sudan

Improving public finance management and financial sector resilience

A period of transition after 30 years of dictatorship

Sudan is currently undergoing a fragile and volatile transition. Following a period of thirty years of dictatorship, a peaceful revolution resulting in a power sharing agreement between military/security services and civilian opposition groups led to a civilian-led technocratic government assuming power since September 2019. Three priorities have been identified for the transition:

1) peace;
2) stabilisation of the economy;
3) preparation for democratic elections in 2023.

A wide EU-funded programme to support the economic transition

In this context of transition, the European Union proposed a relevant programme in response to the country needs. The overall objective is to support the Government of Sudan (GoS) in its efforts to achieve sound and inclusive economic reforms during the democratic transition.

Given the political will and strategic importance for the country to demonstrate the integrity and good management of its public finances, the EU decided to set up a project to support capacity building in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP) in order to better coordinate aid, strengthen public finance management and stabilise the financial system.

This €10M programme is built on three components, implemented by the British Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Expertise France:

• Component 1: To strengthen institutional capacities at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning – ODI;

• Component 2: To implement a reform roadmap to improve capacities in Public finance management – Expertise France/ODI;

• Component 3: To improve financial sector asset quality – Expertise France.

A project covering a wide range of economic subjects

Expertise France is responsible for the implementation of the activities of component 2 –statistics, taxation (tax administration and tax policy), governance of state-owned enterprises and external control– as well as the activities of component 3 dedicated to the Central Bank of Sudan via a review of the quality of banking assets.

The intended objective is to support the Government of Sudan in its efforts to achieve sound economic management during the economic transition, focusing on two main results:

• The enhancement of the capacities in Public Finance Management;

• The improvement of the financial sector asset quality.