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Transportation
One area in need of extensive development in Su-
dan is its transportation system. With over 2.5 million
square kilometres in area to cover, Sudan has simply
been unable to finance the high costs involved in de-
veloping a transport systems throughout the country.
However, since 2006 the United Nations Office for
Project Services (UNOPS) has been working with
the Sudanese government through the Sudan Accel-
erated Infrastructure Program, which has included
such as initiatives the construction and rehabilitation
of roads, bridges, and other transport infrastructure.
The two main areas of focus of this program have
been the rehabilitation of selected road corridors in
Southern Sudan, as well as transportation networks
in the Blue Nile State, both ventures helping to boost
development and improve conduits for humanitarian
aid, tourism and trade.
Transportation in Sudan has a lot of potential. In a
country as large as Sudan, transit system are nec-
essary in order to connect areas of production to
the areas of consumption and export. The country’s
paved road network is mainly limited to the north and
east of the country (there are a few paved roads in
the west), with a key highway linking Khartoum with
Port Sudan. The country has approximately 4,500
kilometres of narrow gauge railways with links to
west and south-western towns. The Nile provides
the main means of transporting passengers and car-
go from north to south, while Sudan’s 60 paved and
unpaved airstrips link the domestic aviation network.
In its goal to link up its trade and industry hubs,
Sudan’s greatest need will be a series of long-term
investment opportunities in the development of the
transport sector. Road construction, which at US$
200,000–450,00 per kilometre is prohibitively ex-
pensive as are other costly infrastructure projects,
such as the proposed new Khartoum International
Airport. The state owned Sudan Railways Corpo-
ration is considering privatising its profitable cargo
and passenger businesses, while proposed rail ex-
tensions, such as the link to Ethiopia’s rail network,
are being financed by international development aid
and private equity. The government is also open to
improving the river transport sector. Sudan’s navi-
gable waterways exceed 5,000 kilometres in length
and represent the cost-effective way of connecting
the north and south when compared with road and
rail construction. Sudan’s domestic aviation sector is
also deregulated; several cargo and passenger air-
lines have recently been established.
The comprehensive national strategy of the govern-
ment aims at increasing the land transport capability
by 20 times, paving more tarmac roads, connecting
the whole country by proper means of air transport,
and promoting the present airports and airstrips in
order to make Sudan a real transport and communi-
cation centre functioning at international and region-
al levels. Furthermore, the river transport sector will
also be modernized and its capability increased by
20 times, and some industries will be established to
manufacture all means of transport such as vehicles,
river vessels and so on, locally in Sudan.
The government’s strategy is to reorganize the
sector, in order to provide specific opportunities for
investors to rehabilitate and expand the network.
Realisation of these objectives generates many
investment opportunities, and the private sector is
expected to contribute the greatest portion under
the privatisation policy. Among the investment op-
portunities in the transport sector, we may mention
the following:
• Incorporating transport companies for haulage
of crops and animals designated for export,
especially using specialised haulage techniques
for transporting live animals, liquids or fridge
containers for meat products,
• Incorporating passenger transport companies to
serve the inner-town and city quarters, and
connect the capital with the other towns and cities,
• Investing in river transport, and
• Investing in air transport – both passenger and
cargo services.
UNOPS has been working under a Cooperative
Agreement with USAID since 2006 to carry out the
Sudan Accelerated Infrastructure Program. The pro-
gramme consists of six activities:
• Construction of primary health care centres
• Construction and rehabilitation of roads
• Rehabilitation of other transport infrastructure in
Blue Nile State
• Construction and rehabilitation of bridges
• Labour intensive community infrastructure projects
• Construction of primary schools
One of the main activities in the programme is the
construction and rehabilitation of selected road cor-
ridors in Southern Sudan, helping to boost develop-
ment and improve delivery of humanitarian aid.
On the 80km stretch of road from Yambio to Dabio,
travel used to take over four hours in dry weather
and now takes a guaranteed 90 minutes. This has
improved the quality of goods and services and the
overall economic development of the area.
In early 2008, Nzara market contained three