UAE-Sudan: $ 6 billion investment plan to build new port on Red Sea

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will build a new port in Sudan with access to the Red Sea as part of a $ 6 billion (€ 5.70 billion) deal, Osama President Daoud Abdellatif participates in the negotiations.

According to him, the investment package includes a free trade zone, a large agricultural economy project, but also the impending deposit of 300 million dollars (284.82 million euros) with the Central Bank of Sudan. This is the first increase in financial liquidity since the military seized power in October.

Western donors have suspended billions of dollars in financial aid and investment since the coup, exacerbating the already dire economic crisis in Sudan and cutting off government access to valuable foreign currency.

The $ 4 billion (€ 3.80 billion) port will be built jointly by DAL and Abu Dhabi Ports, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi investment company ADQ. The new port will be able to handle all kinds of goods, but also to compete with the country’s main national port (Port Sudan), according to Abdelatif.

The same port will be located about 200 kilometers north of Port Sudan, and will include a free trade zone and an industrial zone, according to the model city-port of Jebel Ali in Dubai, as well as a small international airport, according to with him. The mentioned investment plan is at an “advanced stage” with the studies, but also the plans have been completed, as Abdelatif stated.

Rumors of investment from Gulf countries in Port Sudan, as well as agricultural projects in other parts of the country, have sparked controversy in the past, as well as protests in some cases.

The reported central port has been facing infrastructure challenges, and closed due to a political blockade for a six-month period late last year, losing its co-operation contracts with international shipping companies.

The agreement with the UAE includes the investment of $ 1.6 billion (€ 1.52 billion) in an agricultural economy program between the IHG from Abu Dhabi and DAL Agriculture in the northern Sudanese city of Abu Hamad.

SOURCE: AMPE

Source: Capital

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