GLB Invest, a Lebanese farmland investor, have announced plans to invest up to USD$800 million for the lease of land and to produce animal feed.
The company plans to produce animal feed in the Sudan, to sell to the Saudi Arabian market.
Sudan has seen a influx of Arab companies investing in farmland and livestock projects in the African country. Prized for its fertile soil and easy access to irrigation water from the Nile, the country is being seen as a opportunity for Saudi Arabia to secure food supplies.
Sudan is located just across the red sea from Saudi Arabia, with Port Sudan facing Jeddah on the other side.
Beirut-based GLB Invest, president Firas Badra said the firm had leased 78,000 hectares of land 130 km north of Khartoum to produce and export 40,000 tonness annually of animal feed to Saudi Arabia.
"We are starting now with 40,000 tons for the time being and the project will have a maximum capacity of 750,000 tons by 2019," Badra said.
The company plan to manufacture 250,000 tonnes of feed next year, which will go to supplying the 4 million tonnes per annum market of Saudi Arabia.
GLB Invest has spent $200 million in Sudan to date, and will increase investment up to between $750 million and $800 million by 2019.
