On Wednesday, four U.S diplomats opened accounts at a Sudanese bank for the time in decades.
Ellen Thorburn is Deputy Chief of mission at the US embassy in Khartoum.
"One main reason is for convenience so we can use our new accounts and the debit cards in stores and restaurants as we move around Khartoum. Symbolic it is to support the economy of Sudan, we lifted economic sanctions in 2017 and we want to show that Sudan is open for business, that banks, international banks and businesses are welcome back here", she said.
Sudan has been hit by foreign currency shortages. Despite the United States listing a decade-old sanction in 2017, foreign investors have not returned.
"There’s clearly been some dramatic changes in the Sudanese government and the timing seemed right now with the civilian led transitional government and the changes that they are enacting", Thorburn added.
An economic crisis in December 2018 sparked a nationwide protest leading to the ouster of long-time leader, Omar al-Bashir
...Former President-for-Life of Sudan He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself head cheese. He fell out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Hee was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it...
. The East African nation is now being ruled by a joint civilian-military body, known as the sovereign council. The council is spearheading a transition to civilian rule.