Sudan’s central bank said on Wednesday that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had lifted sanctions on Sudanese companies.

“We received a letter from OFAC confirming that the executive orders of 13067 and 13412 that were issued in October 2017 have become effective and that is ending the embargo on Sudan officially,” Central Bank Governor Badreddin Abdelrahim said in a statement.

Badreddin explained that the United States had informed Khartoum it was lifting sanctions on 157 Sudanese companies, in line with a policy shift by Washington in late 2017.

The bank governor stated that “only a few Sudanese individuals and entities remain under US sanctions for their links to the conflict in Darfur”.

Washington announced an end to its 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan in October 2017, but retained the country on its state sponsors of terror list.

The move comes as Sudan is working to revive its economy following the ouster in April 2019 of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.

The former president is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the conflict in the western Darfur region, which left 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million others, according to United Nations data.