Türkiye: Liquidating Agricultural Company in Sudan

Sudan Event – Talal Muddassir

A Turkish presidential decree issued today, Friday, ended a joint project in the field of agriculture and livestock between Sudan and Turkey.
The decree ordered the liquidation of the Turkish-Sudanese International Company for Agriculture and Livestock, a joint-stock company established to practice agricultural activities in Sudanese lands by a decision of the Turkish president, and the 10-year project ended today, according to Turkey, without achieving any production.
The Turkish land leasing initiative in Sudan began for the first time in 2013, when it was announced that 780,500 hectares – a hectare is equivalent to 2.5 fedans – of agricultural land in Sudan had been leased for a period of 99 years, with the state and the private sector undertaking agricultural production on these lands and based on the “Agreement of Bilateral Agricultural Cooperation and Partnership between the Turkish government and the government of the Republic of Sudan approved by Cabinet Resolution dated 09/11/2015 and No. 8234/2015 under which the Sudan Turkish International Agriculture and Livestock Company was established.
The founding contract stipulated that 80% of the company’s capital be owned by the Ministry of Agriculture and the General Directorate of Agricultural Institutions in Turkey, and 20% by Sudan. The agreement was signed by Sudan and represented by Hatim Al-Sir, the Minister of Commerce at the time.
Sudan and Turkey signed an agreement for partnership and cooperation in the agricultural field in 2014. The agreement included allocating land in the Abu Gota region in central Sudan to establish a model project with an area of 12,500 hectares, to provide agricultural inputs in addition to training 310 Sudanese agricultural engineers.