Sudan Gets Civilian Prime Minister for the First Time Since 1989

Sudan has a civilian prime minister for the first time since 1989, the year Omar Al-Bashir deposed Sadiq Al-Mahdi.

The new (transitional) Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok, took the oath of office on Wednesday, August 21 – on the same day as the new Sovereign Council.

Mr. Hamdok had been working as a senior economist for the UN in Ethiopia until last year and, after resigning from that position, had turned down an offer from Mr. Bashir to become finance minister. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Manchester University and his career includes various positions in international organizations like the International Labor Organization and the African Development Bank.

Real power will continue to lie with the military which will exercise it through the Sovereign Council.

The council is made up of five soldiers and six civilians, with the important detail that one of the civilians is a former military man. This means that the military will dominate the council through its chairman, General Abdel Fattah Burhan (who until this week was the leader of the Transitional Military Council, the TMC) and General Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo (a powerful officer who has played a role in suppressing dissent in Darfur for decades).

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Investor Losses as 17 Firms fall Below 5 Shillings per Share in NSE Bear Run

On the Nairobi Securities Exchange, share prices of a number of firms have fallen mainly due to a mix of corporate governance weaknesses, a tough economy, and over-indebtedness. Five of the stocks are trading below one shilling and 17 listed firms have fallen below Ksh5 per unit in a stock market bear run

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Cybercrime on the rise: 78 Nigerians implicated in business email scam and money laundering schemes

The United States Department of Justice (USDJ) has accused 80 individuals, including 78 Nigerians, of involvement in a business email scam and money laundering scheme to the tune of 3 billion dollars since 2015

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