Qatar's Hassad signs $100m agri deal with Sudan

Qatar's Hassad Food Company, owned by Qatar’s Investment Authority, has announced the establishment of a joint venture with a capital of $100m in Sudan.

The deal is part of a planned $1bn agricultural investment in the African country.

Hassad Food chairman Nasser al-Hajri hailed the agreement as the beginning of a plan by his company to achieve food security for both Qatar and Sudan.

“This is just the beginning on which I hope we can build on to secure food for Qatar, Sudan as well as the world,” Al-Hajri said in comments published by Gulf Times on Tuesday.

Al-Hajri said that the Hassad Sudan venture plans to grow more than 250,000 acres in the north of Sudan.

The project is a joint venture between Hassad Food, which owns 75 percent of it, and the Sudanese government, officials said, and was a result of a year-long negotiation.

Al-Hajri added that efforts are underway to set up similar joint ventures in Brazil, US, Turkey, and Argentina, adding that a big project had already been launched in Australia.