China Eximbank pledges loan for Omdurman-Bara Road in Sudan

Project narrative

On 27 November 2011, Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) and the Sudan National Highway Administration signed a $160 million USD contract for the Omdurman-Bara Road Project. Then, in March 2014, the Sudanese Minister of Finance and Minister of Oil and Gas met with Chinese officials in Beijing and signed an agreement in which China Eximbank pledged to loan $150 million USD for the Omdurman-Bara Road in Sudan. However, in 2016, Sudan’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning announced that the project would be financed with local rather than foreign funding. According to the contract signed in November 2011 with China Power Construction Group, works were supposed to last 42 months. The 341 km road is a completely new asphalt concrete road linking Kordofan and Darfur. It is part of Sudan’s east-west main line, and upon completion, the project would shorten the distance from the capital Khartoum to Obeyid, the capital of North Kordofan State, by 300 km. According to FM96.6 in 2019, Governor of North Kordofan State, Ahmed Haroun announced that Omdurman-Bara road would be inaugurated in September 2019. As of August 2020, the road was completed; however, the exact completion date is unknown.