Qatar has signed up to a $4bn rehabilitation and management contract at Sudan’s Red Sea port of Suakin. Qatar will take a 49% share, with Khartoum holding the balance, said Sudan’s Transport Minister Muhammad al-Awad at a joint press conference with Qatari counterpart Jassim Saif Ahmad Al-Sulaiti ahead of the signing in Port Sudan on March 25.
The project, which includes the development of port infrastructure and a free trade zone, is due for completion by 2020. The first of its three phases is expected to cost $500mn. Suakin is about 50km south of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. The deal was the culmination of four inter-governmental meetings in Doha and Khartoum. (CONTINUED - 377 WORDS)
