as part of a $6-billion investment package, DAL group chairman Osama Daoud Abdellatif, a partner in the deal, told Reuters.
Rumors of Gulf investments in Port Sudan, and in agricultural projects elsewhere in the country, have in the past stirred opposition and sometimes protests. Alfalfa, wheat, cotton, sesame, and other crops would be grown and processed on the 400,000 acres of leased land, he said. A $450-million, 500-kilometer toll road connecting the project to the port would be built as well, financed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
Two sources from the former Cabinet, who asked not to be named, said a different version of the deal had been reviewed last year but ultimately did not move to a vote due to reservations. Representatives for ADQ, the Abu Dhabi Fund, IHC, and the Abu Dhabi and UAE governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.