| Headline: Sudan rejoins the IMF and begins economic reforms Source: Euromoney Date: September 2000 There’s a lot of hot air in Khartoum, and according to one lawyer working for Talisman Energy, the Canadian oil explorer, not all of it is blowing in from the Sahara. “Well, if you include planting date trees along the roads adjacent to the Nile – well yes, I suppose the infrastructure is improving.” He pauses: “Oh wait, they died. Nobody watered them.” The taxi driver swerves to miss a huge pothole in the main road and then quickly veers back into the street in an attempt to avoid those sleeping on the footpaths. Regaining his composure, the lawyer continues: “Our auditors sometimes ask if we realize what this government is spending the oil revenues on. We kind of do, after all there has been a civil war for 17 years. Some say we shouldn’t be here but it’s a tough call as to whether we are doing good or bad. . . . As an energy company we have two choices: drilling even deeper or investing in countries like Sudan.” |