Sudan has signed an agreement with a state-owned Turkish company to allow for the mining of gold and other minerals in Sudan’s Red Sea state, a source at the Sudanese Petroleum Ministry has said.
The source told Reuters News Agency that the agreement is between Sudan’s Geological Authority and Turkey’s Mineral Research and Exploration General Directorate (MTA).
The deal allows for two “square” areas in the state to be mined, and follows are three-day official visit to Sudan by Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay.
Sudan’s State Minister for Petroleum, Awad Dahia, said the deal was a first for MTA outside of Turkey in the field of minerals, and expressed hope that the deal would benefit Sudan economically, according to state news agency SUNA.
Sudan’s economy has been struggling since the south of the country seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of its oil output. Sudan sharply devalued its currency in October after the government tasked a body of banks and money changers with setting the exchange rate on a daily basis.
The new system was part of a package of measures aimed at tackling an economic crisis and an acute shortage of foreign currency.
