Sudan, Turkey sign $100m investment deal

Turkey has signed a $100 million agreement to invest in oil exploration and production in Sudan, Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli revealed yesterday.

The announcement came following a meeting over the weekend between Sudan’s Finance Minister Mohamed Osman Al-Rikabi and the visiting Turkish Deputy Minister of Economy Al-Fatih Matin on the status of economic agreements signed between the two countries.

On Monday, Pakdemirli met with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and subsequently confirmed that they had signed a number of animal wealth and agriculture investment agreements.

The deal will also help the two countries facilitate banking transactions with greater ease, in order to increase the volume of trade exchange which currently stands at $481 million.

The Turkish government is already financing an $800 million developmental project in partnership with Sudan in the Duba area, with a focus on agricultural production, livestock and gardening.

Turkish-Sudanese relations have strengthened in the past year since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Sudan in December last year, accompanied by 200 businessmen. The two countries signed 21 cooperation agreements during the visit and approved the establishment of a higher political committee headed by the two presidents, saying the committee would annually meet in Khartoum and Ankara alternately.

They also agreed to raise trade exchange between to $1 billion within the year, with the hopes of reaching $10 billion in the future.

In March, Sudan’s Ministry of Finance also signed a deal with the Turkish company, Summa, to build the new Khartoum international airport at an estimated cost of $1.15 billion.

According to a report issued by the Sudanese Ministry of Investment, there are currently 288 Turkish investment projects in the country.