Sudan: Osama Faisal Elsayed Ali, State Minister of Investment
2015/09/28
Khartoum’s doors open for international investment amidst wealth of opportunities
Safety and security may not be the first words that come to mind when thinking about Sudan, especially given the portrayal the country gets from global media coverage. But the reality of the situation is that they should be. Sudan is a modern, dynamic, safe and vibrant country, and, most importantly, it is host to a vast number of prime investment opportunities which have exploded over the past couple of years and look set to expand even further in the future.
What is so unique about Sudan is that it is a relatively virgin territory with a lot of potential. What’s more, the government has become increasingly keen to have an economy which is both diverse in terms of industry and efficient in terms of conducting business. This has resulted in a vast increase in the ease of doing business in Sudan, which in turn has led to a surge in investment in a myriad of different industries, with mining, agriculture, tourism and solar energy being the most notable areas. Ultimately, recent government initiatives combined with little prior knowledge of the country on the part of investors mean that now is the perfect time to invest.
The Minister of Tourism Mohamed Abozid states that Sudan is a safe place to both visit and invest.
According to him, the conflicts that dominate the news coverage of Sudan and give it such a bad reputation are “between tribes that are far from here”. And while there are small conflicts in certain areas, he says that, “Khartoum, the capital city, is the safest city in the Middle East”.
This strong statement has been backed and supported by foreign tourists who say that Sudanese people are generous and welcoming, meaning that all tourists feel very safe, welcome and relaxed.
The government, meanwhile, is taking real steps towards making business and investment in Sudan easier, by streamlining processes and stripping away unnecessary red tape. Current incentives, such as exemptions from tax duties and customs introduced for capital groups to boost corporate profit margins, are something that you simply will not find elsewhere.
And although investment in an untouched country like Sudan is often made very difficult by numerous bureaucratic delays and the interference of a seemingly unending number of state bodies, this is also something that the Sudanese government has taken particular care to avoid, notably with the passing of a new investment law in 2014. The bill, for example, has created a much more decentralized investment structure, with each of Sudan’s 18 states having its own investment authority, thereby increasing investor access to regulatory bodies, as well as improving transparency, accountability and efficiency. “This is part of our duty: to establish a ‘one stop shop’, bringing all these departments together for the investor,” explains State Minister of Investment, Osama Faisal Elsayed Ali.
As a result of the government’s new found determination to make doing business in Sudan easier, the World Bank estimates that the cost of starting a business as a percentage of GNI per capita has fallen from over 100% in 2005 to 25.1% today, making it one of the easiest countries in which to start a business in Africa.
“I advise all investors to visit Sudan, first of all. Seeing is believing. Opportunities are huge, particularly in areas like food security. There’s also a very big opportunity for investors to invest in areas of energy, which is a sector that is related to both agriculture and mining”
“This is part of our duty: to establish a ‘one stop shop’, bringing all these departments together for the investor”
Indeed, following the development of a specialized department for investment and the creation of a detailed investment master plan for the country, Sudan has numerous economic success stories: a booming animal feed industry, a rapidly developing solar power infrastructure, gold exports worth $3 billion a year and some of the most pristine archaeological and natural wonders in the world.
Sudan’s new found economic focus however is not just restricted to exportation, but also the development of human capital and the country as a whole. This is something the government has come to realize, and has significantly increased its investment in education. The spike in the number of children of primary school age enrolling in education is testament to this, rising from 46% in 2003 to beyond 70% in 2013, according to a study by the Ministry of Education.
The results of this economic revolution are already clear: Sudanese GDP has grown seven-fold from around $10 billion at the start of the millennium in 2000, to over $70 billion today, according to The World Bank. Likewise, GDP per capita, which was at $350 in 2000, has shot up to nearly $2000 today. While such growth is astonishing, what is clear is that, given the current nature of the Sudanese economy, such rates are likely to increase in the coming years.
The government and, more specifically the Ministry of Investment are working very hard to attract investment, ensuring that the laws concerning the investment climate regarding land, taxes and customs are very suitable and encouraging, as well as ensuring the ease of moving money into the country. “If you want to invest in Sudan, everything is on your side,” says Minister Abozid. Given what Sudan has to offer, investors are advised to explore this new frontier before it is too late.
- Related Articles
-
Routes Africa forum aims to improve African air connectivity
2016/05/15 An event dedicated to the development of the African aviation industry will take place next month in Tenerife (26-28 June) to encourage the launch of new air services to, from and within the African continent. Routes Africa 2016 will help to improve African connectivity by bringing together airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss next air services. Around 250 route development professionals are expected to attend the forum which was founded ten years ago to stimulate increase in the industry. -
While Europe is on the verge of breaking up, Africa is reaping the benefits of integrating, growing and developing its trading blocks
2016/05/13 The collapse of virtual borders is one of the majority remarkable things to have happened in our lifetimes. In the world of cyberspace, time and distance have become almost peripheral considerations at the same time as it comes to doing business. Services from software development to accounting can be delivered across the world in the blink of an eye. Next business leaders will struggle to imagine an era at the same time as communication was neither immediate nor virtually free. -
Africa’s economic growth is likely to be slower in the intervening years
2016/05/12 Africa’s economic increase is likely to be slower in the intervening years than in the before decade, according to the new rating by Ernst & Young using a barometer to gauge the level of appeal and success.“The baseline projection of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 2016 is presently reduced to 3%, while it was estimated at 6.1% in April 2015″, Ernst & Young points out in its rating. -
Raw materials have long been linked to Africa in many business people’s minds
2016/05/11 Oil, gold, diamonds, palm oil, cocoa, timber: raw materials have long been linked to Africa in a lot of businesspeople’s minds. And in fact the continent is highly dependent on commodities: they constitute as much as 95% of some nations’ export revenues, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. But propping a country’s entire economy on commodities is risky business, like building a mountainside home on stilts. You can’t be sure about the weather, or in this case the commodities market. The current free-fall of oil prices to less than $40 a barrel is a glaring example. “The commodities cycle has tanked out,” says Austin Okere, founder of Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), a Nigerian emerging multinational financial services company. “And this time it looks additional structural than cyclical, so it’s not a matter of waiting it out. Something has to give.” -
Africa,Protect Refugees With Mobile Banking
2016/02/08 "Mean spirited", "inhumane" and desecrating the spirit of the Refugee Convention are some of the milder criticisms levelled at Denmark's harsh new asylum laws, passed last week. Part new measures is a decision to strip new arrivals of any cash and valuables worth additional than 10,000 kroner (US$1,450), purportedly to pay for their upkeep. Switzerland and some southern German states have introduced similar policies. It's a move that reflects the fragmenting world of European migration policy, lacking in solidarity, empathy and basic human decency. But what of the financial implications for asylum seekers?
-
- Sudan News
-
- BOTSWANA: Routes Africa forum aims to improve African air connectivity
- BOTSWANA: Economic integration is helping boost trade and investment in Africa
- BOTSWANA: Africa’s economic growth is likely to be slower in the intervening years
- BOTSWANA: Beyond Commodities: How African Multinationals Are Transforming
- BOTSWANA: Africa,Protect Refugees With Mobile Banking
- BOTSWANA: African Union merges science and education bodies
- Trending Articles
-
- AZERBAIJAN: Azerbaijan to become export gateway for Indonesian products to European market
- AFRICA: More than 41 million in southern Africa face food insecurity
- CHINA: Chinese Developers Delay Bond Maturity, Deficit to Peak in 2020
- SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa to extend ICT reach
- ITALY: The Child Migrants of Africa
- EUROPEAN UNION: Two Remarks on the Turkey-EU Deal on the Migrant Crisis