Sudan eyes growth in Arab agri investment

By Yara Bayoumy

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Agricultural investment in Sudan by Arab countries looking to guarantee supplies of staples such as wheat for their people will account for up to 50 percent of all investment in the country from 2010, a state official said.

Countries in the dry Gulf Arab region as well as Asia that are heavily dependent on food imports have turned their sights to land investments in many African nations to grow food for their own populations.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Jordan have invested heavily in Sudan for their food security needs since the largest African country enjoys a variable climate and heavy rainfall making it fit for growing wheat, citruses, animal feed and oilseeds.

"Agriculture investment in 2007 represented only 3 percent of all investment in Sudan. Now it's much higher, it is 17 percent and it is rising," Abdul Rahim Ali Hamad, State Minister at Sudan's Agriculture Ministry told Reuters on Sunday.

Hamad said that 2008-2009 were mostly "preparatory years", during which investors were still studying opportunities and conducting studies.

"So we expect from 2010 onwards a dramatic increase in agricultural investment. We expect that it will increase to up to 50 percent related to all investment in Sudan," Hamad said.

He said these capital investments were worth some $700 million in 2007 and have risen to $3 billion in 2009.

"In terms of area, in 2010 I expect that 5 million feddans (5.19 billion acres) will be used for investment in Sudan, which is about $7.5 billion worth of agricultural investment in 2010-2011 by Arab countries," said Hamad.