Sudan: System
Essentials Chapter 4: Red Sea, Horn of Africa
Sudan: System
Essentials
Economy
/ Agriculture / Industry
/ Natural Resources / Trade
Overview
/ Leadership / Infrastructure
/ Population / Fielded Forces
/ Table of Contents
Stacks of wood at Buffalo Cape
Sudan is buffeted by civil war, chronic political instability, adverse weather, high inflation, a drop in remittances from abroad, and counter-productive economic policies. The economy is dominated by governmental entities that account for more than 70% of new investment. Most private industrial investment predates 1980. A large foreign debt continues to cause difficulties. The government implemented a comprehensive economic reform program in 1992 that included slashing the fiscal deficit, liberalizing foreign exchange regulations, and lifting most price controls, but it backtracked on most reforms in 1993 because of its fear of generating a domestic backlash. The government's failure to pursue economic reform, its continued prosecution of the civil war, and its growing international isolation has led to a further deterioration of the non-agricultural sectors of the economy.
The economy's base is agriculture, which employs 80% of the work force. Sudanese agriculture is characterized by a modern market-oriented sector of irrigated and mechanized, rain-fed farming concentrated in the central part of country. Additionally, a large traditional sector is engaged in subsistence activities elsewhere. Principal modern sector crops include cotton, sorghum, peanuts, sugarcane, wheat, and sesame. Traditional sector crops are sorghum, millet, sesame, peanuts. Fishing still largely remains a subsistence occupation. Apart from gum, a major export, forests are used mainly for fuel. After several disappointing years, agriculture enjoyed favorable growing conditions in 1993, and its strong performance produced an overall growth rate in GNP of about 7%.
Industry mainly processes agricultural items. Public enterprises are dominant in modern manufacturing activity, mainly foodstuffs, beverages, and textiles. Output of government plants are generally well below capacities because of raw materials shortages, power outages, lack of spare parts, and lack of competent managerial staff and skilled laborers. Three-quarters of large-scale modern manufacturing is found in the Al Khartoum state.
Despite reserves of petroleum, chromite, gold, gypsum, marble, and mica, mining is not commercially significant to the Sudanese economy (contributed less than 1 percent to the GDP in 1990). Most petroleum exploration operations ended in 1984 because of civil war in the south. Sudan's chief sources of energy are domestic wood, charcoal, hydroelectric power, and imported petroleum. Sudan's large hydroelectric potential is only partially exploited. The central area of the country is served by the electric power grid; some towns elsewhere have local generating facilities.
In 1993, Sudan exported an estimated $350 million in commodities which included cotton (over 50%), sesame, gum, and peanuts.
In the same year, the country imported $1.1 billion in goods, mostly foodstuffs, petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals, and textiles.