19 Facts About Abdalla Hamdok

Abdalla Hamdok Al-Kinani is a Sudanese public administrator who served as the 15th Prime Minister of Sudan from 2019 to October 2021, and again from November 2021 to 2 January 2022.

In 2020, Abdalla Hamdok was named among Bloomberg's 50 Most Influential figures of the year.

On 21 November 2021, all political prisoners were freed and Abdalla Hamdok was reinstated as prime minister as part of an agreement with the military.

Abdalla Hamdok was born on 1 January 1956 in Al Dibaibat, South Kordofan, Sudan.

Abdalla Hamdok holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Khartoum and a doctorate in economic studies from the University of Manchester.

From 1981 to 1987, Abdalla Hamdok was a senior official in the Sudanese Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

Abdalla Hamdok was the Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance from 2003 to 2008.

Abdalla Hamdok worked briefly for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in 2001 and 2002 as Director of Regional Integration and Trade and from 2011 to October 2018 was the Deputy Executive Secretary of UNECA.

In September 2018, Abdalla Hamdok was named as minister of finance under the Omar al-Bashir presidency of Sudan but refused the nomination.

Suggestions were made in June 2019 by a spokesperson of the Forces of Freedom and Change and in August 2019 by The Sudan Daily that Abdalla Hamdok would be proposed as Prime Minister of Sudan by the FFC, which negotiated the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy with the Transitional Military Council.

The Ministry of Information declared that Abdalla Hamdok was "still the legitimate transitional authority in the country" and called for the "immediate release of the prime minister and all detained officials".

Abdalla Hamdok's release followed international condemnation of the coup and calls for the military to release all the detained government officials.

On 21 November 2021, Abdalla Hamdok was reinstated as prime minister after a political agreement was signed by Sudan's top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to restore the transition to civilian rule.

However, by mid-December 2021, Abdalla Hamdok was confident enough to dismiss the acting governors who had been appointed by General al- Burhan.

On 2 January 2022, Abdalla Hamdok announced his resignation as prime minister in a televised speech, saying that the country was at a dangerous turning point and roundtable discussion was needed to come to a new agreement for Sudan's political transition to democracy.

Tagadum announced its dissolution on 10 February 2025, with Abdalla Hamdok forming a new body, known as the Civil Democratic Alliance of the Forces of the Revolution, the following day.

Abdalla Hamdok has pushed for a change from subsistence agriculture to "more dynamic, commercial oriented" agriculture in Africa, stating in 2014 that despite the fact 300 million Africans suffer from hunger, Africa should be capable of food self-sufficiency.

Abdalla Hamdok delayed his decision on which candidates to select, stating that one of his reasons for objecting was that too few women were present on the list.

Abdalla Hamdok stated that he would "take into account a fair representation of women".