Sudan Launches Program to Protect Private Sector Employees from Corruption

A customer receives money from a teller inside the Bank of Khartoum, in Khartoum, Sudan. (Reuters)
A customer receives money from a teller inside the Bank of Khartoum, in Khartoum, Sudan. (Reuters)
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Sudan Launches Program to Protect Private Sector Employees from Corruption

A customer receives money from a teller inside the Bank of Khartoum, in Khartoum, Sudan. (Reuters)
A customer receives money from a teller inside the Bank of Khartoum, in Khartoum, Sudan. (Reuters)

Khartoum announced preparations to launch a counter-corruption program next April, which will vet Sudan’s private sector employees, estimated at about 75,000.

“This program will enable employees to become familiar with the management program used by companies around the world to assess internal fraud, corruption risks and external fraud,” said Sudan’s Al-Oula Center for Accounting Studies Director Adelah Mohammed Al-Tayeb.

The US Chamber of Commerce, during negotiations with Sudan in October, said that the implementation of the anti-corruption program will be the basis for trade between both private sectors and is vital for lifting sanctions.

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) oversees the anti-corruption program, as the US aims to ensure that the program is built in every country where it has commercial interests thereby ensuring that its trade partners have the ability to fight and prevent corruption.

Tayeb pointed out that the first phase of the program in Sudan will include the implementation of a technical survey of all employees in Sudanese companies and jobs listed in official state records.

The survey will cover 250 companies.

Sudanese banking sources said that most fraud risks and crimes, especially those which are financial, can be traced back to employees.

The risk of financial fraud is only possible through the falsification of documents, checks, counterfeiting, burglary and systems penetration to obtain the passwords of customer accounts.

“The concept of corruption is not limited to acts such as fraud and embezzlement. But greater efforts must be made to combat other forms of corruption, such as exploitation of status, conflict of interest, or financing private projects from public funds," said the journalist.

Head of the anti-corruption agency in Sudan, Al-Tayeb Mukhtar said that his country is currently preparing to complete the anti-corruption plan, which was approved by the Sudanese parliament several years ago.

One of the first steps in the fight against corruption in Sudan is establishing independent police prosecution.



Oil Steady after US Stockpile Build

An oil pump of IPC Petroleum France is seen at sunset outside Soudron, near Reims, France, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
An oil pump of IPC Petroleum France is seen at sunset outside Soudron, near Reims, France, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
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Oil Steady after US Stockpile Build

An oil pump of IPC Petroleum France is seen at sunset outside Soudron, near Reims, France, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
An oil pump of IPC Petroleum France is seen at sunset outside Soudron, near Reims, France, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo

Oil prices steadied on Thursday after falling more than 1% the previous day because of a build in US gasoline and diesel inventories and cuts to Saudi Arabia's July prices for Asia.

Brent crude futures were up 23 cents, or 0.35%, at $65.09 a barrel by 1148 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 16 cents, or 0.25%, to $63.01 a barrel.

Oil prices closed around 1% lower on Wednesday after official data showed that US gasoline and distillate stockpiles grew more than expected, reflecting weaker demand in the world's largest economy.

Geopolitics and the Canadian wildfires, which can reduce oil production, provide price support despite a potentially over-supplied market in the second half of the year with expected OPEC+ production hikes, PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.

The price cut by Saudi Arabia followed the OPEC+ move over the weekend to increase output by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) for July.

The strategy of OPEC's Saudi Arabia is partly to punish over-producers by potentially unwinding 2.2 million bpd between June and the end of October, in a bid to wrestle back market share, Reuters previously reported.

"Oil demand will be shaped by trade negotiations between the US and its trading partners," PVM's Varga said.