Gazira scheme Clarification on mortgage

Sudan Events – Rihab Abdallah

The Board of Directors of the Gazira Agricultural Scheme has announced the stoppage of funding for the wheat crop, via mortgage of the scheme’s assets, saying this decision was dictated by the additional terms tabled by the legal advisor for the Agriculture Bank
The Scheme’s administration explained the details of the step it has undertaken since last September to get the funding of the wheat crop of the current season via the private sector, but that step stumbled and stopped there.
The administration said it still continue its efforts unabated when it contacted the government represented by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Sudan and the Agricultural Bank. It said these contacts were crowned by the consent of the Agricultural Bank to provide the required funding. It explained that at that time the legal advisor of the bank demanded on the 6th of November to see an authorization from the Ministry of Finance to the attention of the Board, on the funding provision. It further added that after the ministry of finance consented and sent the authorization on 5he 24th of November 2023, a funding contract was signed between the Bank and the Scheme administration. The contract was then submitted to the legal advisor of the bank for authentication on the 28/11/2023. However, the Board’s statement said they were surprised to on Thursday the 30/11/2023 by a request from the bank’s legal advisor adding in a letter to the Bank’s DG-Gazira sector, six more terms that have to be met before the funding is provided. It draws the attention to the fact that on the 6/11/2023, these terms were not mention. And as the time was limited and as this new situation contradict the recommendations put forward by the Agricultural Research Authority, and the commitment to the timetable for the cultivation and irrigation of wheat crop, the Board has thus to regrettably announce halting the funding because of the additional terms put by the legal advisor of the Bank. It is to be noted, the Board said in its statement, that it was able to secure 220 thousand sacks of wheat improved seeds that have been already distributed to farmer in the project, of which 65 thousand sacks were provided free from the World Food Programme (WFP).