SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters – Coup puts into question Sudan’s debt cancellation, France says

6/11/2021: Reuters – Coup puts into question Sudan’s debt cancellation, France says

 Reuters report that the military coup in Sudan puts into doubt the process that would have seen France cancel $5 billion debt owed by Sudan, France's foreign ministry said.

France, Sudan's second-largest creditor, has been a main actor in backing the interim authorities after former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said France had been an "unwavering" partner for Sudan and that the general debt cancellation programme as part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative was agreed at a conference in Paris in May 2021. "It is clear that the military coup of October 25 calls into question this process,” she said.

At that conference, French president Emmanuel Macron also provided a loan to clear Sudan's arrears to the International Monetary Fund and organised a side event promoting investment into Sudan.