“Reconstruction and Development” clarifies: African loans date back to the Saddam era and were not granted by the Sudanese government.
“Reconstruction and Development” clarifies: African loans date back to the Saddam era and were not granted by the Sudanese government.
2026-06-20
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The “Reconstruction and Development” coalition responded on Saturday to the statements made by MP Mohammed Al-Shammari regarding his claims about the government of Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani granting loans to African countries, considering that “these statements are far from the truth and lack accuracy, and involve misleading public opinion and an attempt at political defamation.”
The coalition explained in a statement today that the loans in question are not recent and were not granted during the Sudanese government, but rather date back to the seventies and eighties of the last century, when the previous regime provided oil shipments and loans to a number of Arab, African and Asian countries for political purposes, before those loans increased with the outbreak of its senseless wars in the early eighties.
The statement affirmed that the loans owed to Iraq are sovereign debts, and are being monitored by the Ministry of Finance, represented by the Iraqi Fund for External Development, in accordance with the signed contracts and relevant national and international laws.
In this context, the coalition indicated in its statement that Iraq signed two loans with Tanzania on December 19, 1979 and February 9, 1980, totaling about $187 million. It also signed a loan with Uganda on March 7, 1981, worth approximately $15 million, and another with Central Africa on November 19, 1984, worth about $7 million. It noted that these figures are updated up to the end of 2024 and are reviewed annually according to the loan principal, interest, administrative costs, and late payment interest resulting from non-payment.
The statement indicated that these loans are monitored through a specialized committee that includes the relevant government agencies, and that it undertakes negotiations regarding their settlement, provided that any settlement requests are submitted to the Cabinet to obtain the necessary approvals.
The coalition also confirmed that the Cabinet, throughout the term of Mr. Al-Sudani’s government, did not issue any approval to reduce or settle any sovereign loan, but rather directed the Ministry of Finance, the Iraqi Fund for External Development and the relevant committee to follow up on the collection of these debts in accordance with the approved legal frameworks.
The statement stressed that the Reconstruction and Development Coalition reserves its legal right to take the necessary measures against anyone who misleads public opinion or promotes inaccurate information aimed at distorting the facts and harming state institutions and their symbols.
shafaq.com
