Manufacturing in Sudan
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Manufacturing in Sudan remains a relatively small sector of the economy, accounting for 11.75% of GDP as of 2019 according to the World Bank.[1] Manufacturing in Sudan has a long history, with many forms of industry being attempted since World War II.[2] Growth has been more consistent in the 21st century than previously.
History[]
Colonial era[]
The development of modern manufacturing in Sudan received little direct encouragement during the Condominium Period.[2] British economic policies aimed at expanding the production of primary products, mainly cotton, for export.[2] Imports and traditional handicraft industries met the basic needs for manufactured goods.[2] Indirectly, however, the vast Gezira Scheme led to the construction of cotton gins, of which more than 20 were in operation by the early 1930s.[2] A secondary development was the establishment of several cottonseed oil-pressing mills.[2] During World War II, small import-substitution industries arose, including those manufacturing soap, carbonated drinks, and other consumer items.[2] These operations did not survive the competition from imports after the war's end.[2] Foreign private interests invested in a few larger enterprises that included a meat-processing factory, a cement plant, and a brewery, all opened between 1949 and 1952.[2]
Aftermath of independence[]
At independence the Sudanese government supported a private-sector industrial development policy.[2] It adopted the , to encourage private Sudanese and foreign investment.[2] The act placed few restrictions on foreign equity holdings.[2] By 1961, however, the government had concluded that the private sector lacked either interest or funds to establish certain enterprises important to the national economy, so it entered the manufacturing field itself.[2] The first government project was a tannery, which was followed by a sugar factory.[2] In 1962 Khartoum formed the Industrial Development Corporation to manage government plants.[2] Several additional government enterprises were built in the 1960s, including a second sugar factory, two fruit and vegetable canneries, a date-processing plant, an onion-dehydrating plant, a milk-processing plant, and a cardboard factory.[2] The private sector also made substantial investments then, which resulted in factories making textiles and knitwear, shoes, soap, soft drinks, and flour.[2] Other private enterprises included printing facilities and additional oil-pressing mills.[2] Among the largest private undertakings was the foreign-financed and foreign-built oil refinery at Port Sudan, which opened in 1964.[2] Well over half the investment in the private sector during the decade came from foreign sources.[2]
1970s[]
Direct government participation in the manufacturing sector increased dramatically after the 1969 military coup and policies aimed at placing the country's economic development in government hands, although private ownership continued.[2] During 1970 and 1971, Khartoum nationalized more than 30 private enterprises.[2] In 1972, however, to counter the drop in foreign private investment that followed, Colonel Ja’far al-Numayri announced that private capital would again be accorded favorable treatment, and the government passed the , containing provisions that were more liberal than earlier legislation.[2]
The economy remained dependent on private capital from developed nations, so the government incorporated further incentives in a 1974 revision of the industrial investment act and added provisions against arbitrary nationalization.[2] Moreover, in 1972 Khartoum denationalized some enterprises and returned them to their former owners under a joint public–private ownership arrangement.[2]
Throughout the 1970s, the government continued to establish new public enterprises, some state-owned, others in conjunction with private interests, and some having foreign government participation, especially by the Arab oil-producing states.[2] The new plants included three sugar factories, two tanneries, a flour mill, and more than 20 textile plants.[2] A joint venture with U.S. interests built Sudan's first fertilizer plant south of Khartoum, which was in operation by 1986.[2] Private investment continued, particularly in textiles.[2]
1980s[]
Total manufacturing output declined in the 1980s.[2] Capacity utilization was as low as 30 percent in many plants, and down to 10 percent at some textile factories in 1997, despite a ready local supply of high-quality cotton.[2] About 85 percent of all factories in Khartoum's main industrial area were operating below full capacity in 1998.[2] A shortage of fuel in oil-fired power stations in Khartoum caused frequent power outages (see Energy in Sudan), which forced plant owners to install generators, but a shortage of foreign exchange for diesel fuel for the generators kept capacity utilization low.[2] Obsolete equipment, lack of trained personnel, and uncompetitive costs also contributed to the slow growth of the sector.[2]
Growth: 1998–present[]
Growth of the manufacturing sector increased in 1998 with the construction of an oil pipeline, a new refinery, and work on the terminal at Port Sudan.[2] The development of the export oil industry provided foreign exchange for imported machinery.[2] Reforms in the financial sector and privatization also contributed to growth.[2] Telecommunications and food processing, especially sugar refining, gained from these changes, as well as from increased foreign investment.[2] The manufacturing sector grew by 6 percent in real terms in 1999, by 11.5 percent in 2000, and by 5.7 percent in 2008, although it began from a low base.[2] The government's 1997 economic reform program facilitated this growth.[2]
Food processing was the most successful category of investment, especially sugar refining.[2] Production of refined sugar exceeded domestic demand, allowing Sudan to become the Arab world's only net sugar exporter.[2] There are five government-owned sugar producers, but the leading producer is the , the major part of which is privately owned.[2] Its success attracted investment in the , which began production in 2011 and was expected to reach full capacity of 450,000 tonnes per year by 2012.[2] A new refinery designed to produce 100,000 tonnes per year was also being planned in Sinnar State.[2] The production of sugar reached 738,500 tonnes per year in 2009 but fell to 642,000 tonnes in 2010.[2]
Government estimates suggest that the textile industry, which uses domestic cotton, could produce 110 percent of Sudanese requirements if it operated at full capacity.[2] There are 75 small, privately owned companies and nine large state-owned factories producing spun yarn and fabric.[2] The largest factory is the government-owned built by the Chinese in the 1960s, with a capacity of 2,100 tonnes of yarn per day and 16 million meters of fabric per year.[2] The most important private-sector factory is the , with a capacity of 64 million meters per year.[2] Although Sudan is an important producer of high-quality cotton, textile production declined continuously from 274 million meters in the 1970s to just 13.72 million meters in 2003, a capacity-utilization rate of just 5 percent.[2]
Work began on the between Port Sudan and the port of Sawakin in July 1999.[2] The project was designed to cover 600 square kilometers.[2] The initial zone of 26 square kilometers included a warehouse and industrial and commercial areas.[2] The original investors were from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.[2] In January 2000, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Red Sea Free Trade Zone and the Free-Trade Zone of Jebel Ali, UAE, in which the UAE pledged to help Sudan establish free-trade zones in all of its border areas, thus linking trade between East Asia and Africa via Sudan.[2] The UAE also promised to increase marketing and shipping activities and to exchange personnel and technical information.[2] Saudi Arabia's Jiddah Free-Trade Zone signed a similar agreement.[2] The Red Sea Free Trade Zone was opened in February 2000. Two years later, however, there were reports that only seven of the factories in the zone were still functioning; since then, the zone apparently has collapsed.[2]
In October 2000, the US$450 million Giad industrial city opened 40 kilometers south of Khartoum. As of 2010, it had 13 separate companies, including factories for manufacturing cables, electrical wires, steel, and pipeline products.[2] It also had large arms-manufacturing and automotive-manufacturing industries.[2] Other factories assembled small autos and trucks, and some heavy military equipment such as armored personnel carriers and the proposed “Bashir” battle tank.[2] The town also had housing, health, and education facilities.[2]
There are other small-scale manufacturing sectors in Sudan.[2] They include pharmaceuticals, electrical goods, cement, textiles, and paints.[2]
In 2019, World Bank data recorded that manufacturing was responsible for 11.75% of Sudan's GDP.
References[]
- ^ "Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) -Sudan". data:worldbank.org. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm DeLancey, Virginia (2015). "Manufacturing" (PDF). In Berry, LaVerle (ed.). Sudan : a country study (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. pp. 189–192. ISBN 978-0-8444-0750-0. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Though published in 2015, this work covers events in the whole of Sudan (including present-day South Sudan) until the 2011 secession of South Sudan.
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- Economy of Sudan
- Manufacturing by country