RIYADH: In a bid to boost the country’s development, Sudan has consolidated its energy and mining ministries, and is pursuing nuclear power as a source of electricity, a senior official said at the World Economic Forum here on Monday.

Speaking to Arab News, Minister of Energy and Petroleum Moheiddin Naeem Mohamed Saeed said the merging of the ministries is aimed at capitalizing on the nation’s gold resources. Pursuing nuclear energy would boost the war-torn country’s development, he added.

“Sudan’s significant gold production will be leveraged to drive development in other sectors,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, Saeed said that he found the discussions on nuclear energy during the WEF event beneficial, adding that his country has begun the process of developing its nuclear-power sector.

“Having completed the initial two steps, it is now high time to seriously consider nuclear energy, given it is safe. This action will accelerate Sudan’s industrial and developmental progress, potentially spearheading reforms in the energy sector, which is a key indicator of a country’s level of development,” Saeed said.

He said that discussions around energy were critical for all nations. “Energy is no longer a private matter; it is a concern that resonates worldwide. Access to energy is a fundamental right for people everywhere. With the evolving quality of life, energy has become indispensable. From household appliances to industrial machinery, our modern way of life relies heavily on energy,” he said.

Saeed added that the WEF special meeting provides a platform for participants to discuss different energy sources and strategies for investing in them optimally, while keeping costs as low as possible, and developing industry standards.

“This forum seeks to unite the global regulations and provide safe and available energy,” he said.

Saeed said Sudan was developing relations with other nations with regard to energy provision. “We have a power interconnection with Ethiopia, and we have a power interconnection with Egypt; they are our neighbors. We have a big goal to achieve in Africa, which is to pursue this interconnection. So, African countries exchange energy,” he said.

He emphasized that Africa, known for its economic challenges, requires collaborative efforts among its nations to address energy issues effectively. “Energy has become an indicator of whether a country is advanced or not, as I previously said. They strive to integrate electricity and energy in general.”

Saeed said that as an oil-producing country, Sudan had undertaken projects with China and Malaysia. “In early 2000, our oil production reached 500,000 bpd (barrels per day), after the country split into two with the establishment of South Sudan, where most of the oil projects were located.

“Our big challenge now is to cooperate with oil old players or the new ones everywhere, as we have no political issues with any country, and this is business. We have a substantial oil reserve in the north,” he said.

He said Sudan has only exploited 20 percent of its known oil reserves for energy, and the government was striving to maximize production due to high demand.

“We currently meet 40 percent of our energy requirements. Additionally, we have initiatives in solar, thermal and wind energy to generate electricity. Moreover, our river systems, supported by numerous dams, contribute to half of Sudan’s power supply, and we are making significant progress in this area.”

On gas, he said Sudan has potential fields in the Red Sea, and are transitioning electricity stations to utilize more of this source.

LONDON:Germany is failing to protect Muslims from growing racism amid a “lack of understanding” about the issue, Human Rights Watch has warned.

The country has yet to implement a working definition of anti-Muslim racism and frequently fails to record data on race-hate incidents, the organization said on Tuesday.

A key failing of the German government concerns its “lack of understanding that Muslims experience racism and not simply faith-based hostility,” said Almaz Teffera, a HRW researcher on racism in Europe.

“Without a clear understanding of anti-Muslim hate and discrimination in Germany, and strong data on incidents and community outreach, a response by the German authorities will be ineffective.”

Germany recorded 610 “anti-Islamic” crimes in 2022, but from the start of 2023 to September that year, the number had climbed to 686.

There are fears that the figure has further surged since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict last October.

Germany’s Interior Ministry told HRW that it could not provide data on anti-Muslim crimes from October 2023 to the year-end.

However, civil society groups in the country recorded a spike in reported incidents, leading Germany’s federal commissioner for anti-racism, Reem Alabali-Radovan, to join an EU-wide expression of concern about the rise in hate.

The Alliance Against Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Hate, a German NGO network, documented “an average of three anti-Muslim incidents a day” last November.

The network’s chief, Rima Hanano, told HRW that “2023 marked a frighteningly new high for anti-Muslim incidents.”

Though the network collects its own internal data on the frequency of hate incidents, the German government “has yet to develop an infrastructure for countrywide monitoring and data collection,” HRW said.

The government has also classified hate incidents against Muslims as “anti-Islamic” since 2017, removing nuances surrounding the ethnic identities of victims, HRW added.

A three-year study commissioned by the government and published last year recommended that authorities “no longer dissociate anti-Muslim hate from racism,” but instead “recognize their connection.”

However, the Interior Ministry has failed to carry out the report’s recommendations, HRW said, adding: “Any focus on anti-Muslim hate and discrimination that fails to include racism or acknowledge the intersectional nature of such hostility will be unable to capture the full picture or inform effective policy responses.”

Muslim communities in Germany are a “group with a diversity of ethnicities” rather than a “monolithic religious group,” said Teffera.

“Germany should invest in protecting Muslims and all other minority communities in Germany because it is an investment in protecting all of German society.”