Sudan is located in north east Africa with the River Nile as the most dominant feature of its geography, as the Nile basin constitutes 67.4% of the country’s total area. Due to its unique geographical location, Sudan has always been a trading and cultural bridge between northern and southern Africa as well as between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, particularly west and east Africa.
People of Sudan descend from a mixture of many ethnicities and group; most notable are (Arabs/African Hamates), 96.7% of the population in Muslim.
Natural Resources
Sudan is considered on of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources. It is gifted with fertile agricultural land, abundant water resources, minerals and diversified historical and natural tourist attraction sites. The country is characterized by its vast virgin area of land and varied climates, a fact that makes the country capable of producing different kind of horticultural crops.
Government Policies and Regulations Promoting Investment
Policies of economic liberalization resulted in the transition from oriented economy to market economy to promote investment and foreign trade. These regulations resulted in:
Elimination of taxes on raw agriculture products
Elimination of export taxes on agricultural goods
Subsidy of agricultural input and reduction of financing costs
Lack of a specific financing limit for the agricultural sector
Investment System Include:
Direct investment by companies and individuals for a period between 30 – 90 years
Investment through financing formulas: by agreements between investors and existing projects for the production of required crops in accordance with agreed upon funding formula.
Investment partnership: by signing an agreement between Arab investor and the local partner to carry out the project according to each party’s share contributed to the investment capital.
Investment through the B.O.T system which grants projects all investment safeguards, features and facilities.
Bilateral investment: through bilateral agreements between governments.
Agriculture
Agriculture is the leading and most relied on sector in the expected developmental renaissance in Sudan, as It represents about 31.6% of the GDP
Contributes about 9% of the country’s non-oil exports 50.23% of the population works in the agricultural field Total area = 600 million acres Area of arable land= 200 million acres Cultivated area per year = 40 million acres
Opportunities Available for Agricultural Investment
1. Field Crop
Irrigated Field Crops, Wheat, Cotton, Peanuts, Maize, Sunflower, Fodder
Rain-Fed Crops, Sesame, Peanuts, Sunflower, Cotton, Millet, Hibiscus, Sorghum, Maize.
2. Processing of Horticultural Crops
Dried Vegetables
Tomato Concentrates.
3. Sugar Production
Sugar production (sugar cane) in the White Nile, Blue Nile and Sinnar states.
Production of sugar beet in Gezira Project and Northern State.
Residence of wheat, maize millet and peanuts.
4. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Which include: Planting Senna, Black Cumin, Hibiscus, Aniseed, Garlic and fennel.
5. Agricultural Inputs Industry Certified, Fertilizers, Pesticides and Burlap Packing sacks
6. Agricultural Mechanization Manufacturing agricultural machinery and equipment.
7. Post-Harvest Services Preparing fodder, sorting and grading centers, packing of vegetables and fruits, dry refrigerated transport, refrigerated stores.
Industry
The installed capacities are higher than the national needs thereby considerable surplus for exports to neighboring countries if full capacities can be exploited example of existing manufacturing industries are sugar, flourmill, edible oil, soaps, detergents, shoes industry and dry batteries…etc.
Opportunities Available for Industrial Investment
1. Food Industries:-
Production processing of and preserving of meat and meat products
Manufacture of dairy products
Processing and preserving of fruits and vegetables
Processing and preserving of fish and fish products
Manufacturing of starches and starch products
Manufacturing of bakery products
Manufacturing of cocoa, chocolate and sugar confectionery
Manufacturing of other food products
Manufacturing of animal feeds
2. Textile and leather Industry:-
Preparation and spinning of textile fabrics, weaving of textile
Finishing of textile
Manufacturing of knitted and chocolate fabrics and articles
Manufacturing carpets and rugs
Manufacturing of cordage rope, twine and netting
3. Manufacture of Petrochemicals:-
Manufacture of rubber tires and tubes
Cutting shaping and finishing of stones
Manufacture of caustic soda
Manufacture of pesticides
Refractory clay products
Manufacture of cement, lime and plaster
4. Manufacture of basic Metals:-
Manufacture of basic iron and steel
Casting of iron and steel
5. Manufacture of Fabricated Metal, Machinery and Equipments:-
Manufacture of hand tools, Manufacture of agricultural and forestry machinery
Manufacturing of medical and surgical equipments and other appliances
Manufacturing of metallic products for construction
Building and repairing of ships and boats
Manufacturing of electric equipments and house ware
Manufacturing of insulated wire and caplets
Manufacturing of bicycles
Manufacturing of toys
6. Packing Industry:-
Plastic Sacks
Plastic containers
Plastic barrels
Manufacturing of paperboard
Water Sources:
Sudan is rich in water resources, the major sources include:
Rain: The Rainy season extends from the month of May to October. The rate of rainfall ranges annually between 25 mms in the far north, mostly desert, to 1500 mms in the south.
Rivers: The great River Nile which runs across the whole country from south to north. It has a number of tributaries mainly including the White Nile, The Blue Nile, Bahr Al Gabal, Bahar al-Zaraf, Sobat River, Dindir, Rahad and Atbara Rivers.
Underground Water: Sudan has underground water from different sources in its northern, eastern and western parts. The total underground water reserves in the country are estimated at about nine billion cubic meters.
Fish Resources:
Sudan is characterized by the availability of natural water resources which are rich of feeds of fish. These water surface have great potentials for fishery production which are yet to be invested fully. There are great opportunities for fish production at the lakes of the dams of rosaries, Sinnar and Jabal Awlia and Nuba Lake of Aswan Dam. Only 30% of the total fish recourses in the country have been utilized so far.
Oil:
The utilization of petroleum resources is considered as the biggest achievement realized by to country in recent years. Sudan who had been importing oil against a bill of 400 million dollars a year (half of its revenues of foreign exchanges) has no. after utilization of its oil resources as of August 1998, realized self sufficiency and entered the club of oil exporting countries.
Mineral Resources:
Sudan is endowed with a vast mineral wealth, which is still greatly unexploited. The Sudan has deposits of Gold, Silver, Iron, Zinc, Copper, Chrome, Uranium, Gypsum, Mica and other metals used in buildings. As part of the country’s utilization of its mineral resources, there is the project for gold mining is eastern Sudan undertaken by Ariab Mining Company, which is a joint venture between Sudan and France.
The company’s production is continuously increasing. There are also a number of projects, which are under implementation such as copper mining in south Darfur.
Livestock:
Sudan ranks at the forefront of the countries of the Middle East regarding the animal wealth and ranks the second in Africa. It has a national herd of about 135 million heads of livestock. The animal resources contribute considerably to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
