Sudan looks beyond human rights to exploit its resources

Africa’s largest country has been impoverished by decades of conflict; its government is seen as an incubator for Islamic radicalism; famine and war stalk the secessionist south. But for all the downside, Sudan has the natural resources to make it an important African energy producer. Buoyed by the start of oil production in the south and made urgent by regular blackouts in Khartoum, energy development has been elevated to the top of the Sudanese government’s priorities.