Qatar and Sudan have made a $4bn deal to develop Sudan’s second-biggest port, Suakin, located in the northeast of the country.
According to Sudan’s minister for transport, Makkawi Awad, the agreement — which was inked in late March — was signed in order to increase joint co-operation regarding communications and transport between the two countries’ administrations, though another objective of the venture is to get the port performing “its vital economic role as a gateway to Africa”.
The two governments want to twin Suakin with Qatar’s main seaport, Hamad Port.
The Suakin development project, which is scheduled to be finished by 2020, will see Sudan receive 51% of its returns, while Qatar will get 49%.
The venture’s first stage is expected to cost $500m.
Qatar’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, said that Qatar would send vessels to Sudan’s Port Sudan next month with a view to reviving trade between Qatar and Sudan.
The pact comes after Sudan inked a separate agreement with Turkey, in December last year, under which Turkey will restore a portion of Suakin and build a naval dock for the maintenance of civilian and military vessels.
Egypt will likely be angered by the Qatar-Sudan deal, having accused Qatar of backing Egypt’s prohibited Muslim Brotherhood — which Qatar has denied — and having last year participated in a Saudi Arabian-led boycott of the country.
