A joint venture of investors of the United Arab Emirates are building a new port in neighbouring Sudan with an investment capital of six billion dollars. It is the biggest investment made since the military takeover in Sudan.
DAL group chairman, Osama Daoud Abdellatif, a partner in the deal, in an interview with the Reuters, said the construction includes a free trade zone, a large agricultural project and an imminent 300 million dollars deposit to Sudan's central bank.
The port, a joint project between DAL group and Abu Dhabi Ports, owned by Abu Dhabi's holding company ADQ, would be able to handle all kinds of commodities and compete with the country's main national port, Port Sudan, Abdellatif told Reuters.
The investors are new to the region but the UAE has been leading port development projects in the Horn. DP World has built the Djibouti port before it has lost its concessional right after the Djiboutian government took over the full ownership. DP World is now developing Berbera Port in Somaliland with an investment 442 million dollars.
Authorities in Sudan have been struggling to run the economy of the country that was in the midst of foreign currency crisis as external lenders turned their back on the military government due to the willingness of its leaders to democratically transfer power to civil administration.