Sudan

The largest country in Africa and also one of the poorest, Sudan has traditionally been reliant on Egypt, which controls the mouth of the River Nile. In ancient times, the region that became Sudan, then known as Nubia, helped provide a workforce for Egypt and also supplies of grain. Europeans started exploring it in search of the source of the River Nile, but there was little economic interaction, although a small cotton industry was developed. When the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium was established in 1899, the government of what was called the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan helped introduce cotton gins to help the industry, and also built mills for oilseed pressing. They were also able to improve the irrigation system and communications by extending the railway line that covered a large part of central Sudan, linking that area to the capital Khartoum, to Egypt, and to the Red Sea.

Under the British, a number of agency houses operated, one of the major ones being Cotts, Drake & Co. Ltd., which was part of the British Mitchell Cotts Group of companies. They advertised themselves as “importers and exporters of general merchandise and Sudan produce,” also being agents for General Motors, Michelin Tires and Tubes, and other companies. Other firms that operated in Sudan at the time included the Imperial Chemical Industries, Imperial Typewriter Service, and other British companies.

Sudan gained its independence from Egypt and Great Britain in 1956, but it was not until 1960 that the government of President Ibrahim Abboud started to revitalize the economy and introduced a national development plan. The first of these was the Ten-Year Plan, which started in late 1960, was formally adopted in September 1962, and lasted until 1970. However, the goals were ambitious and the private sector did not provide enough of the capital, with the result that some of the projects were abandoned. However, there were some successes with the Khashm al Qirbah and the Manaqil irrigation projects, and the Al Tunayd Irrigation Project, as well as the building of a new sugar factory. The per capita income of the country also rose from US$86 in 1960 to US$104 by 1969.

The government soon faced problems implementing reforms; some of this came from the south of the country, which during the 1960s led to the outbreak of a civil war. In 1967 the implementation of the Ten-Year Plan was finally abandoned and few countries would consider investing in Sudan or lending money. A new plan was drawn up, but this was discarded after General Gaafar al-Nimeiri seized power in a coup detat in May 1969. He drew up and started implementing the Five-Year Plan of Economic and Social Development, which was expected to run from 1970 to 1974. It benefited much from Soviet technical advisers with the aim of establishing a socialist economy and this led to a steady increase in prosperity. It faced many problems, including those over the failure to improve the transportation system in the country. This hurt the agricultural sector, and schemes were then drawn up to lengthen the implementation process in the Five-Year Plan. Furthermore, income from government companies fell far short of the projected figures, leaving the government seriously short of money.

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