According to DAL group chairman and deal partner Osama Daoud Abdellatif, the United Arab Emirates would invest USD 6 billion in the construction of a new Red Sea port in Sudan.

The package, according to Abdellatif, comprises a free trade zone, a significant agricultural project, and a forthcoming USD 300 million deposit to the central bank of Sudan—the first such deposit since a military coup in October.

Following the coup, Western donors halted billions in aid and investments in Sudan, further destabilising an already fragile economy and depriving the government of desperately needed foreign money.

Ibrahim stated to Reuters on Wednesday, June 22, that a port and agricultural project memorandum of agreement had been signed with the UAE, albeit the specifics had not yet been made public.

According to Abdellatif, the USD 4 billion port, a joint venture between DAL Group and Abu Dhabi Ports, which is owned by Abu Dhabi's holding firm ADQ, would be able to handle a variety of commodities and compete with Port Sudan, the nation's principal national port.

It would be situated around 200 km north of Port Sudan and have a modest international airport along with free trade and industrial zone modelled after Dubai's Jebel Ali. According to him, research and drawings for the project are finished and it is in "advanced stages."

In the past, rumours of Gulf investments in Port Sudan and other agricultural projects in the nation have sparked criticism and occasionally unrest.

Debt problems have long plagued Port Sudan, and late last year, a political blockade caused it to be closed for six weeks, costing it business from significant foreign shippers.

According to Abdellatif, the UAE agreement also involves the USD 1.6 billion expansion and development of an agricultural project by the Abu Dhabi conglomerate IHC and DAL Agriculture in the northern Sudanese town of Abu Hamad.

According to the deal, the fund will also deposit USD 300 million with the Central Bank of Sudan, according to Abdellatif.

The general framework of the new agreement was reached between UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Sudanese commander General Abdelfattah al-Burhan during a recent visit to the Gulf state, according to two senior current Sudanese officials who spoke to Reuters.

In a report to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Abu Dhabi Ports stated that although "there are preliminary negotiations going place with the necessary authorities in Sudan," "no agreements in respect to a cooperative project to establish a port in Sudan have been inked."

Requests for a response from ADQ, the Abu Dhabi Fund, IHC, and the governments of Abu Dhabi and the UAE were not immediately answered.

Abdellatif, whose conglomerate has also made a bid for control of one of Sudan's main telecom businesses, Zain Sudan, said, "Ourselves and our partners in the UAE, we have already invested in a bank, a hotel, and mining."

In order to make more and more of these investments, the UAE needs a stable Sudan, but we are not waiting for everything to be perfect, he continued.

Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by the military in 2019 after widespread protests, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia committed USD 3 billion in financial and in-kind relief to Sudan. However, military and civilian authorities claim that this aid was not fully delivered.