Sudan country profile

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The Republic of Sudan is the largest country in Africa and the tenth-largest in the world.

Geography

Sudan is bordered by:

• Egypt to the north

• Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east

• Kenya and Uganda to the southeast

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest

• Chad to the west

• and Libya to the northwest.

It has 853 kilometres of Red Sea coastline to the northeast.

It is characterised by largely flat, featureless terrain, through which runs the River Nile, with mountains in the far south, northeast and west and desert dominating the north. Its major settlements are the capital, Khartoum, in the centre of the country and Port Sudan in the northeast.

Table: Sudan at a glance

Recent history and politics

Sudan gained its independence, from Egypt and the UK,on 1 January 1956. The current ruling party, the National Congress Party, came to power by military coup in 1989. President Al-Bashir assumed power as chairman of Sudan's Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation (RCC) in June 1989. He adopted the roles of head of state, chairman of the RCC, prime minister and minister of defence until mid-October 1993, when he was appointed president by the RCC. He was elected president by popular vote in March 1996.

The country's recent history has been dominated by two civil wars. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in January 2005, brought to a close the world's longest-running civil war. The conflict was between the Khartoum-based government of the country in the north and tribal factions in the south, represented by rebel groups including the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

The peace agreement allowed for a government to be established in the south of the country, at Juba, and for the south to share in the country's substantial oil resources. It also established a government of national unity in Khartoum. A referendum is scheduled for 2011 to decide the final status of the southern part of the country and, in particular, whether it will become independent.

The government established under the CPA was dealt a blow in October 2007 when the leading political parties representing the south Sudanese rebels announced the withdrawal of their representatives from the national government. They claimed that the National Congress Party - the Khartoum-based party that plays a dominant role in the country's government - is using its 52 per cent majority to perpetuate a de facto one-party state.

The international community is also trying to bring a close to the second civil war in Darfur. The Darfur conflict, again waged between Khartoum and tribal groups - this time in the west of the country - has killed an estimated 150,000 people, according to international non-governmental organisations.

UN- and African Union-sponsored talks were held in Sirte, Libya, in October 2007 in an effort to engineer a rapprochement between the opposing sides. But key rebel groups, including factions of the Justice & Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army, refused to attend the talks, demanding that they be the only rebel groups at the talks and complaining that they had not been given sufficient time to reach a united position.

A 26,000-strong UN-AU peacekeeping force is due to take over the responsibilities of a smaller AU force on 31 December 2007, having established a headquarters in North Darfur on 31 October. 

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Government

The republic of Sudan is headed by a president, elected for a five-year term by universal suffrage above the age of 17, with the Council of Ministers (cabinet) traditionally appointed by the president. The last presidential poll, in 2000, was boycotted by all popular opposition parties in protest at the lack of guarantees for a free and fair election. Prior to 2005, the legislature was a unicameral, 360-member National Assembly (parliament), for which elections were last held in December 2000.

The country is currently in a transitional period following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on 9 January 2005. The agreement ended the conflict between the north and the south of the country, the world's longest-running civil war. Under the CPA, the Khartoum-based government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, a rebel group based in the south, formed the Government of National Unity. The current cabinet is dominated by Khartoum's National Congress Party (NCP, formerly the National Islamic Front).

Under the CPA, a bicameral National Legislature was formed, comprising a 450-member National Assembly (lower house) and a 50-member Council of States. A mixture of representatives of the Khartoum government, former rebels and other opposition parties has been appointed to the National Assembly. The CPA envisages that, in the future, 75 per cent of National Assembly Members will be directly elected and 25 per cent elected through special or indirect elections. Members of the Council of States are indirectly appointed by state legislatures. All National Legislature members serve six-year terms.

Sudan's legal system is based on English and Islamic law and, since 1991, Islamic law has applied to all residents of the northern states irrespective of their religion. The CPA introduced some protection for non-Muslims in the capital, Khartoum, and Islamic law does not apply to the southern states, where the legal system is still being developed.

Elections

Presidential

• Last presidential election: 13 December 2000

• Next election: no later than July 2009

Results of last presidential election

Assembly

• Last Assembly elections: 13 December 2000

• Next elections: no later than July 2009

Results of last election

(superseded by appointments made under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement)

Political leaders

• National Congress Party (NCP): Ibrahim Ahmed Omar

• Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM): Salva Mayardit Kiir

• Umma Party: Sadiq al-Mahdi

• Popular Congress Party (PCP): Hassan al-Turabi

Government officials

• President: Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir

• First Vice President: Salva Kiir Mayardit

• Vice President: Ali Osman Taha

• Senior Assistant to the President: Minni Arkou Minnawi

• Assistant to the President: Nafie Ali Nafie

• Minister of Agriculture & Forestry: Mohammed al-Amin Issa Kabashi

• Minister of Animal & Resources: Galwak Deng

• Minister of Cabinet Affairs: Lam Akol Ajawin

• Minister of Culture, Youth & Sport: Mohammed Yusuf Abdallah

• Minister of Defence: Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein

• Minister of Energy & Mining: Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz

• Minister of Environment & Urban Development: Ahmed Babkir Nahar

• Minister of Federal Government: Abdel Basit Saleh Sabdarat

• Minister of Finance & National Economy: Al-Zubayr Ahmad al-Hasan

• Minister of Finance & Planning: Zubeir Mohammed Hassan

• Minister of Foreign Affairs: Deng Alor Kuol

• Minister of Foreign Trade: Mansour Khalid

• Minister of General Education: Hamid Muhammad Ibrahim

• Minister of Health: Tabita Sokaya

• Minister of Higher Education: George Boreng Niyami

• Minister of Humanitarian Affairs: James Kok

• Minister of Industry: Jalal al-Dugair

• Minister of Information & Communication: Zahawi Ibrahim Malek

• Minister of Interior: Zubeir Beshir Taha

• Minister of International Cooperation: Al-Tijani Saleh Hudeib

• Minister of Investment: Kosti Manibe

• Minister of Justice & Prosecutor General: Mohammed Ali al-Mardi

• Minister of Labour & Human Resources: Alison Manani Magaya

• Minister of Parliamentary Affairs: Josheph Okelo

• Minister of the Presidency: Bakri Hassan Saleh

• Minister of Religious Affairs & Waqf: Azhari Al-Tigani Awad al-Sid

• Minister of Science & Technology: Abdalrahman Said

• Minister of Tourism: Josef Malwal

• Minister of Transportation: Kuol Manyang Ajok

• Minister of Water Resources: Kamal Ali Mohammed

• Attorney General: Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin

• Governor, Central Bank of Sudan: Muhammad al-Hasan Sabir

Economy

Sudan's economic growth is currently limited by US sanctions imposed in response to the Darfur conflict, and most major European companies are also deterred by allegations that Khartoum's oil earnings are being used by the government to fund the fighting in the west of the country.

Despite the ongoing Darfur conflict, and lower than projected growth in oil production, the IMF reported in October 2007 that it expected GDP growth for the year to reach 12 per cent. According to the organisation's Article IV consultation, non-oil GDP increased by 10 per cent on the back of growth in the agricultural, manufacturing, construction and services sectors. Inflation, however, rose to 15.7 per cent from 5.6 per cent in 2006 and the country is running a budget deficit of more than 4 per cent of GDP. Non-oil exports fell by 11 per cent, contributing to a current account deficit of 13 per cent of GDP.

The higher than expected budget deficit in 2007 was largely due to unexpectedly low oil revenues, due to the poor quality of the oil exported. While crude exports increased by 70 per cent in terms of volume, the low price of the Dar blend meant that the value of exports grew by just 24 per cent.

A substantial proportion of infrastructure projects in the country are funded to some extent by international aid organisations. The US Agency for International Development, for example, spent $84.2m on infrastructure development in the south of Sudan between 2004 and 2006. 

Table: Economic indicators

($ million, unless stated) 

Sector information

Energy

The development of Sudan's hydrocarbons resources has been profoundly affected by the Darfur conflict in the west and the north-south civil war that, by the time the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in January 2005, had raged for two decades. Not only have the conflicts brought instability and insecurity to the country, but they have also attracted international sanctions, particularly against the development of oil and gas.

France's Total was the only major Western oil company to retain an interest in the country during the north-south civil war, and security considerations have meant that it has not carried out any work there for more than 20 years.

Although US sanctions are still in place, a degree of stability has been restored under the CPA, which includes clauses on the sharing of oil and gas between north and south. Total is set to return to its Block B acreage following the resolution of a dispute in which the UK's White Nile claimed it held the rights to the territory. Total will join China National Petroleum Corporation and Malaysia's Petronas as one of the major international investors in the country.

Already the country's largest upstream investor, Petronas is also planning a 150,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) refinery at Port Sudan. Set to come on stream by the end of 2010 the $2.5bn facility will process heavy Dar blend crude from the Melut basin.

Sudan is one of the most unexplored oil territories in Africa and the Middle East. It has estimated oil reserves of about 900 million barrels and estimated gas reserves of about 100 billion cubic metres. Most current production comes from the Melut and Muglad basins. In 2005, it earned $4.8bn in oil export revenues.

Khartoum has ambitious plans to develop these resources. The government aims to increase production to 600,000 b/d by the end of 2007 and to 800,000 b/d in 2008, from about 500,000 b/d in mid-2007. In reality, the country is some way behind these targets, but production is increasing, and will reach 600,000 b/d by 2008, according to independent estimates.

Power

Government plans to add an additional 5,000 MW to the limited national electricity grid are being hampered by US sanctions. In October 2007, National Electricity Corporation was forced to retender a contract to upgrade the oil-fired Khartoum North power station after the selected bidder for the main construction contract, Europe's ABB, withdrew under pressure from the US. The rehabilitation of several power stations is also on hold because the World Bank has been reluctant to provide loans, leaving the country reliant on the Chinese for project finance.

Construction & industry

The most visible example of foreign investment in the country is the frenzy of infrastructure development in the capital, Khartoum, including the construction of roads, housing and a new international airport. But although the country's development has been largely monocentric, there are also efforts to attract investment to other parts of the country.

In late 2006, the US' Louis Berger Group won a $700m, five-year contract to rebuild infrastructure in the south. The work includes the reconstruction and upgrade of roads, water and sanitation networks, public buildings and power facilities in the states of Southern Sudan, Abyei, the Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.

The Sudanese Free Zones & Markets Company is launching the second-phase development of the Garri free zone, 70 kilometres north of Khartoum, in 2008. The size of the zone will be increased from eight square kilometres to 26 square kilometres, with 5,000 local and international companies set to be accommodated. The zone, which in late 2007 housed 953 companies from 32 countries, is due for completion in 2011. The zone focuses on petrochemicals, but also has areas dedicated to packaging materials, food, financial services and pharmaceuticals.

Feasibility studies are also out to tender for an estimated $500m port development in the Red Sea Free Zone, near Port Sudan in the northeast. Under a four-phase development programme, the mixed-use zone is set to be extended to 26 square kilometres by 2015.