By Mohamed Sunhouri Al-Faki Al-Amin

Sudan, with its paradise (the Nile), noble people, and fertile, virgin land rich in blessings and treasures, is capable of overcoming the crisis, silencing the sound of guns, and building a strong state possessing all the elements of advancement if its people, politicians, and military humble themselves to that.

During World War II (1939-1945), European countries suffered losses amounting to about $4.6 trillion. Germany ranked first in material losses, resulting in an unprecedented economic collapse. Germany adopted the Marshall Plan proposed by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947 to rebuild European countries. This led to the cancellation of half of Germany’s debts and receiving support and aid from several countries.

Germany also adopted economic austerity, setting a daily food ration of no more than 1500 calories per person, controlled prices and services, and unleashed its economic thinkers like Walter Eucken and Ludwig Erhard to implement strong investment plans that contributed to the country’s growth. By 1989, Germany ranked third among the world’s strongest economies after Japan and the U.S., with an economy valued at $4.46 trillion according to World Bank statistics in 2024.

Japan, which suffered losses in World War II, implemented a series of economic measures leading to its recovery, such as abolishing laws that prevented migration from rural to urban areas, reorganizing resources, shifting from agricultural production to manufacturing, and focusing on automobile and technology industries. This led to rapid development, reflected positively on per capita income, which was $1,346 annually in 1945 (the year of Japan’s surrender) and doubled by 200% by 1956. Japanese researcher Fumio Hashi at Harvard University noted that Japan’s rapid growth was not only due to resource organization but also to absorbing and adapting Western technology across industries, sparking an industrial boom. Good foreign relations expanded trade and investment, making Tokyo the world’s second-largest economy in the 1990s, later dropping to fourth with an economy valued at $4.2 trillion.

South Korea adopted scientific research as a path to development, investing in education, inventions, innovation, and technology to attract foreign capital, pushing it to fourth place in the Ease of Doing Business Index in 2018.

Notable examples include Singapore, which relied on education for development after independence in 1965, as well as Malaysia and Brazil, which achieved remarkable economic growth through wealth redistribution.

The Rise of the Chinese Dragon as a Great Economic Power:

After Mr. Mao Zedong founded the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, socialist communist principles dominated until the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, with the Communist Party as the sole ruler, unlike Western systems.

China’s economy was initially agricultural but shifted to industry after the Soviet Union invested in heavy industries in China during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s. China acquired several key heavy industries, then transitioned in the late 1970s from a socialist planned economy to a free market economy through gradual economic reforms. This led to a major economic revolution, making China the world’s largest exporter by 2010 and a new global economic giant in record time, enabling it to play influential economic and political roles. In the 1990s, economic growth rates reached 7-8%, nearing 10%, lifting over 500 million Chinese out of poverty into prosperity. China’s foreign reserves jumped from $11.9 billion in 1985 to over $3.5 trillion in 2016, with a GDP estimated at about $11 trillion.

This was accompanied by a massive boom in banking, transportation, infrastructure, and expanded agricultural and industrial production, transforming China in less than 40 years into the world’s second-largest economy.

We draw inspiration from these experiences that blessings come from hardships, success emerges from suffering, and with the will of nations and peoples, the impossible can be broken if there is the will to stop destruction and begin reconstruction. The Rwandan model is not far from us.

Sudan’s unique diversity, strategic geographic location linking Africa to the Red Sea, natural resources, and vast potential underground and above ground are sufficient to accelerate its renaissance if the will to end the war, establish political stability, create mechanisms to attract capital, build strong financial institutions, restore confidence in the banking system, and mend the social fabric is present. This can only be achieved through competent leadership, integrity, and openness of thought.