Investment and Trade

In Sudan, agriculture plays a crucial role in the country's expected developmental renaissance. It is the leading sector, accounting for approximately 31.6% of the GDP and contributing about 9% of the country's non-oil exports. A significant portion of the population, around 50.23%, is employed in the agricultural field. The total area of Sudan is around 600 million acres, with 200 million acres being arable land. The cultivated area annually amounts to 40 million acres. The government has implemented policies and regulations to promote investment and foreign trade in the agricultural sector, such as the abolition of taxes on raw agricultural products and export taxes on agricultural commodities. Additionally, support for agricultural inputs and the reduction of financing costs have been implemented. Importantly, there is no specific financing limit for the agricultural sector, encouraging further growth and development. The goals of the agricultural development strategy includes:
1. Achieving food security and reducing poverty by 15%.
2. Increase productivity and raise the efficiency of agricultural production and processing.
3. Developing plant, animal and agricultural exports as renewable natural resources instead of the economy relying on oil and other non-renewable resources.
4. Developing and protecting natural resources to maintain their sustainability and vitality.
5. Achieving balanced development in all regions to encourage rural settlement and provide incentives to achieve successful agricultural investment as part of the agricultural revival program.
6. Allocating a large percentage of the program budget to rehabilitate infrastructure in agricultural areas (39%).
7. Reducing financing costs in the medium and long term.
8. Increase the capital of the Agricultural Bank to meet the needs of the recovery program.
Investment systems
• Direct investment: It includes investment by companies and individuals for periods ranging from 30-90 years.
• Investment through financing formulas: through agreements between investors and existing projects to produce the required crops according to the agreed upon financing formula.
• Investment partnership: by signing an agreement between the Arab investor and the local partner to implement the project according to each party’s share in the investment capital.
• Investment through the B.O.T system: which grants projects all investment guarantees, advantages and facilities. Bilateral investment: through bilateral agreements between governments.