Sudan factories struggle to restart after devastating wartime losses

Khartoum, Sudan – Mansour Gaily’s factory in Khartoum produced sweets for local consumers and provided employment for workers.

But when fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, production ground to a halt, like thousands of other businesses across the country.

More than three years later, Gaily faces the challenge of bringing his business back to life. Production may have resumed, but the factory is only operating at 40 percent of its previous capacity.

“Our losses are estimated at $1m,” Gaily told Al Jazeera. “We lost some machinery, spare parts, and needed to rebuild large parts of the factory.”

Gaily’s troubles are typical of Sudan’s devastated manufacturing sector. Before the war, Khartoum was one of the country’s main industrial centres, home to factories producing food, textiles and other consumer goods.

However, Khartoum became a major battleground between the SAF and the RSF during the war, and although there have only been sporadic attacks since the army fully recaptured it last year, the industrial sector has not been rebuilt.

According to Sudan’s Ministry of Industry, approximately 1,800 industrial facilities have been damaged during the war, including 650 factories that were completely destroyed.

The figures illustrate the scale of the challenge facing a sector that is essential to employment, domestic production and economic recovery.

Abdulelah Mohamed owns a factory for plastic products and recycling in Khartoum. He describes the situation as catastrophic.

“Damaging, destroying and looting the factories was systematic. We lost everything,” Mohamed said. “The industrial sector needs new planning and a new vision so Sudan can produce things again.”

Economic needs

The damage extends beyond buildings and machinery. Raw materials, finished goods and equipment have been destroyed or looted, while electricity shortages, damaged transport networks and rising import costs have made reopening difficult even for businesses whose premises survived the fighting.

Sara Elfatih Khalil, chief executive of Al Teital Advance Industries, is among the manufacturers confronting these challenges. Her company’s factory in Khartoum produced sesame oil and, before the war, provided employment for 300 workers. Its warehouses have been looted during the fighting, and with damaged buildings and a supply chain that remains broken, the factory continues to be shut down.

“I believe industry will remain a cornerstone of any economic recovery and that it is capable of recovering rapidly if the basic conditions are met,” Khalil said.

“Restoring our confidence as investors requires security and political stability, clear and consistent economic policies, legal protection for investment and property rights, and reliable financing and infrastructure,” Khalil said. “Our situation is not unique. Less than 10 percent of factories in the sector are currently operational, and those that remain open are operating intermittently, with costs that threaten their continued viability.”

For Gaily, restoring production at his sweets factory requires a steady supply of ingredients, including sesame and sugar, as well as packaging, spare parts, electricity and workers. Disruption to any of these can bring production to a halt.

“We are operating at 40 percent of our production capacity because the damage was severe and capital is limited,” he said. “Despite the lost spare parts and the lack of labourers, we chose to continue because we don’t have any other options.”

Other manufacturers face similar obstacles. Some now must import materials that were previously available locally, increasing costs and making production vulnerable to further disruptions in transport and supply.

The problems also extend to financing. Businesses that have lost machinery, stock and income during the war often lack the capital needed to replace equipment and pay for stock and employees before sales resume.

Impact on workers and consumers

The consequences have extended to workers who depend on factories for their livelihoods.

Mohamed Haj is a worker who lost his job at a different sweets factory in Khartoum North and has struggled to find alternative employment.

“I lost my job at the beginning of the war, and the factory owner is unable to restore it,” Haj said. “Reviving the industrial sector in general could provide jobs for thousands of workers who have been left without work.”

At the other end of the supply chain, shopkeepers are struggling with the reduced availability of locally manufactured goods.

Abdelgadir Mohamed, who sells sweets and other consumer products in Bahri Central Market, said the disappearance of many Sudanese-made products has made it harder for traders to source stock.

“In some cases the imported products are cheaper for us and for the consumers,” the shopkeeper said, “but many of my customers prefer the Sudanese-made ones.”

Imports have partly filled the gap, but for shopkeepers this can mean higher purchasing costs and uncertain supplies, and for consumers already facing a decline in purchasing power, that adds pressure on household budgets.

“The prices are changing every day,” said Ahmed Mahmoud, a local consumer. “The local products’ prices are high and imported ones are also high, but for sweets like tahniya [a local sesame-based sweet], I prefer the Sudanese-made one.”

Sudanese authorities are now seeking to fix some of the damage. In August, a Ministry of Industry committee was established to assess the condition of industrial facilities in Khartoum State and prepare incentives to encourage factory owners to reopen. The recovery plan also includes restoring essential services in industrial areas, including electricity, water, roads, sewage and waste management.

The services are critical for manufacturers hoping to resume operations, but factory owners say reconstruction would require more than just restoring infrastructure.

Many factory owners need capital, and representatives of the Sudanese Chamber of Commerce say businesses need real, practical assistance, rather than just promises from authorities.

Rebuilding, or starting again?

Economist Mohamed Elnayer believes reconstruction offers an opportunity to address longstanding weaknesses in Sudan’s industrial economy.

“Rebuilding the industrial sector will require a broader strategy that addresses the structural weaknesses that existed even before the war,” Elnayer said.

Before the war, Khartoum was the industrial heart of Sudan, with the country’s factories largely concentrated inside it. That caused an inequality in opportunities between Khartoum and the rest of the country before the war, but a different problem arose during the conflict, when the capital became a major front line.

Many factories were destroyed and looted as a result, and analysts like Elnayer believe that the industrial sector should be rebuilt across Sudan. This would serve the dual purpose of avoiding any future paralysis of the industrial sector if fighting were to break out in the capital again, and also spread economic benefits around the country.

“Sudan needs to consider, before reconstruction, whether to simply restore the industrial sector that existed before the conflict, or provide an opportunity to develop a more competitive and productive economy in other Sudanese states,” he added.

For Gaily, those broader economy questions are inseparable from the practical challenge of keeping his factory running.

He hopes to repair the machinery, secure the ingredients needed to manufacture sweets and bring his former employees back.

“We need stronger support from the authorities by facilitating production, rehabilitating infrastructure and adopting stronger policies to encourage factory owners,” Gaily said. “Above all, the industrial sector needs financial support and coordinated efforts by stakeholders to sustain economic recovery.”