Sudan

The Republic of the Sudan has a land mass of 1.86 million km² and shares borders with the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south and the Red Sea. It has a population of 50 million.

The Republic of the Sudan was the largest country in Africa until a 2011 referendum resulted in the oil-rich southern region separating into the independent country of South Sudan. In October 2021, a military takeover took place, key government structures were dissolved and terms of the 2019 constitutional charter were suspended. In early January 2022, the Prime Minister stepped down after his efforts to reach a political settlement between domestic stakeholders failed. In December 2022, a political framework agreement was signed, between the military and a number of political parties, in an attempt to relaunch the country’s transition to civilian government and hold elections in two years.

Since then, the remaining northern region, now the third largest country in Africa, has struggled to stabilise its economy and replace the lost foreign exchange revenue stream. In April 2023, fighting between rival armed factions broke out in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum which is primarily a power struggle between the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two groups, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, respectively, are battling one another for control of the state and its resources. As the civil war enters its second year, Sudan’s two warring factions remain locked in a deadly power struggle. Since the conflict began on April 15, 2023, almost 15,000 people have been killed, and more than 8.2 million have been displaced, giving rise to the worst displacement crisis in the world

If peace is restored, a recovery would be supported by reconstruction spending, especially on social services and infrastructure, and resumption of economic activity across sectors and the anticipated increase in government revenues would moderate inflation to 85.6% in 2025. There is an urgent need to end hostilities, build climate resilience, and strengthen institutional capacities.
Sudan contains unexploited deposits of iron ore, copper, bauxite, cobalt, nickel, lead, uranium, rare earth elements, zinc and graphite, while chromite, gold, manganese and silver are produced. The government owns the chromite and manganese producer Ingessana Hills Mining Corporation and the gold mining company Ariab Mining Company.

Early in 2019, Canadian company Orca Gold announced the findings of a feasibility study on its Block 14 project in Sudan. A mine producing an average of 5.2t of gold per annum for 13.6 years could be constructed at a cost of US$328m. Sudan is Africa’s third-largest gold producer and fourth-largest chromite producer.


Sources: Who Owns Whom sector reports, CIA Factbook, African Development Bank, World Bank, Trading Economics, African Statistical Yearbook and IMF. ?>