Sudan to develop Red Sea port in $6b initial pact with Emirati group

Sudan on Tuesday signed a preliminary agreement with a group led by the UAE's AD Ports Group and Invictus Investment to build and operate the Abu Amama port and economic zone on the Red Sea with a $6-billion investment.

The project, located about 200km (124 miles) north of Port Sudan, would include an economic zone, an airport and an agricultural zone of 400,000 feddans (415,000 acres).

A 450-km-long (280 mile) road will connect Abu Amama port with the agricultural area of Abu Hamad in Sudan's River Nile State, the two sides said at the signing ceremony held in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Invictus Investment is headed by Osama Daoud Abdellatif, the chairman of Sudanese conglomerate DAL, who had previously described the port as a joint project between DAL group and AD Ports. AD Ports is owned by Abu Dhabi's holding company ADQ.

Abdellatif had said the port would be able to handle all kinds of commodities and would compete with the country's main national port, Port Sudan, which has suffered recently from stoppages linked to the country's political turmoil.

Sudan's Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim said the country would be entitled to 35 per cent of the net profits from the $6 billion Abu Amama venture.

“The massive project, which is estimated to cost around $6 billion, will give a strong boost to the national economy and will bring countless benefits for the whole country,” said Ibrahim during the signing ceremony.

The UAE’s official Wam news agency said the deal gives the consortium the “right to develop, manage, and operate port and economic zone assets” in Sudan.

The Wam news agency, calling Sudan “a major trading partner” of the UAE, said exports from Sudan to the UAE totalled $1.86 billion in 2020, while the UAE exported $1.14 billion of goods to Sudan in the same year.

The deal was signed just over a week after Sudan's military and civilian political parties signed a framework agreement aimed at forming a civilian government and launching a new political transition after an October 2021 coup. — Reuters and AFP

• Business