Sudan

Type of Government: Republic

Independence: 1956 from the UK and Egypt

Head of State: President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (since October 16, 1993)

2007/2008 UN Development Index ranking (out of 177 countries): 147

2007 TI Corruption Perception Index (out of 179): 172

Political Development: After a series of civil wars that lasted for most of the second half of the twentieth and into the twenty first century, peace talks gained momentum in 2002-04 with the signing of several accords.  The final North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in January 2005, granted the southern rebels autonomy for six years.  After which, a referendum for independence is scheduled to be held.  A separate conflict, which broke out in the western region of Darfur in 2003, has displaced nearly 2 million people and caused an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths.

Adult HIV Rate: 2.3%

Life Expectancy: 49.11

GDP: $25.43 billion

Inflation: 7.2%

Poverty: 40%

Petroleum: 344,700 bpd

Leading Export Partner: Japan (48%)

Economic Note: Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with sound economic policies and infrastructure investments, but it still faces formidable economic problems starting from its low level of per capita output.  From 1997 to date, Sudan has been implementing IMF macroeconomic reforms.  In 1999, Sudan began exporting crude oil and in the last quarter of 1999 recorded its first trade surplus, which, along with monetary policy, has stabilized the exchange rate.  Increased oil production, high oil prices, revived light industry, and expanded export processing zones helped sustain GDP growth at about 10% in 2006.  Agricultural production remains Sudan’s most important sector, employing 80% of the work force and contributing 35% of GDP, but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Chronic instability - resulting from the long-standing North/South civil war as well as the Darfur conflict, adverse weather, and weak world agricultural prices - ensure that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years.