Juba, South Sudan, 21st May 2021 – Aliko Dangote, one of Africa’s richest tycoons has revealed his intention to invest in Sudan and in the agricultural sector in particular.
This comes as the government of Sudan under the leadership of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok extends an olive branch to investors around the world to inch toward an economic recovery trajectory.
The expression of the interest to invest in Sudan also comes on the heel of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement implemented earlier in January this year.
Nigeria, like South Africa, is one of the major players in the agreement in terms of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Mr. Dangote told The Africa Report at the recent Paris conference that he is interested in investing in agribusiness to target regional demand for flour.
“We will be investing, definitely, yes. What I found most interesting was the opportunity in agriculture,” Dangote was quoted to have said.
At the same conference, Vera Songwe, secretary-general of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, piled praise on the Dangote’s company.
From the stage of the conference, she spotted the chairman of Dangote Industries Limited in the front row: “You know that when Dangote is here, there is serious business to be done.”
The Paris conference, which was organized to mobilize funds for African countries hit by the coronavirus pandemic, concluded on Wednesday this week.
But Dangote’s intention to invest in Sudan dates back to 2012 when the entrepreneur first told the then Sudan Ambassador to Nigeria Tagelsir Ali that he intended to register the Dangote Group in the North African country.
According to the International Atomic Agency, agriculture is the most important sector in Sudan with most people relying on the Gezira Irrigation scheme.
“Gezhira cotton earns most of the country’s foreign exchange and the need to produce still more has led to the intensification of production,” the organization says in a report.
