Sudanese Minister of Cabinet Affairs Khalid Omer Yousif said on Friday that Saudi Arabia has committed to investing $3 billion in a joint fund for investments in Sudan and has urged other parties to participate. During a visit by Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other senior officials this week, Yousif said the commitments came from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, to strengthen cooperation as Sudan’s transitional authorities struggle to address a long-running economic crisis.

Sudan obtained $300 million of the 2019 grant following the military’s overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir after months of protests, according to Yousif. Sudan had been promised $3 billion in aid by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with Sudanese officials previously indicating that $750 million had been delivered, including a $500 million deposit in the central bank. However, no further disbursements were confirmed, and it was uncertain if the remaining assistance would be distributed after civilian groups and the military negotiated a power-sharing agreement in the summer of 2019.

Some of the aid is expected to arrive in the form of desperately needed wheat, medication, fuel, and other commodities, and Yousif said joint committees will decide how the remaining $1.2 billion in Saudi Arabian aid will be distributed. In a joint statement released on Friday, Hamdok and his officials said they had agreed to increase the capacity of their joint electrical grid to 240 megawatts for the coming summer, as well as work to link the two countries’ railways.

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