Announcement of 31 Million Dollars Loan for Transport in Sudan on December 28, 1965

D INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR • RECON\rnucT10N AND oEvELOPMENT \\ 1818 H STREET,\N.vy., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 u Bank.,Press Release No. 65/69 Subject: $31 million loan for Deeeiliber'28, 1965 transport in Sudan The Wol"ld Bank has made .:a loan\ equivalent to $31 million to the Republic of the Sudan to assist in financing improvement and expansion ot the facilities of the Sudan RaHways. The Railways, whic,h ope,:rate the counti·y's rail, river and port services, are carrying out' a program to increase the capacity and 'improve the effi- ciency of these services in order to kee'p pace with the r.equirements of Sudan I s growing economy. Three commercial banks are p~rticipating in the loan, without the World Bank's • guarantee, for a total amou~t 0£$400,000 representing part of the first maturity which falls due August 15, 1970. The participants are Bank of America , National , I Trust and Savings Association, San Francisco; Barclays Ban,k D.C.O'., New York; and The First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Company, Philadelphia'. The program of tbe Railways is an integral part of the Government's Ten-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development and accounts for about two-~hirds of planne~, investment for transpor't. During the tl}ree years ending June 30, 1968, the Railways plan to invest the equivalent of $47 milli?n in their program. The Bank loan <>'f $31 million will cover most ,c~f the fo1·eign exchange ,,expenditures during this pe~iod. The railway system, which. now reaches virtually all the productiv~ areas of I'. Sudan, comprises some 2,963 route-miles and is the most impo1·tant mode of trans- portation; it handles about 80% of the freight traffic and 60% of passenger • ~ra(fic. ',' Inland wat~r transport, operated on two separate stretches of the Nile B.iver and its tributaries, is primarily a feeder service to the railways. Sttdan, the country's c>nly deep-water port, hand.lea almost all foreign trade. Port  .. 2 - Freight traffic on the railways has more than doubled since 1952/53. It declined last year because of a poor cotton crop, but is expected to increase to 4.2 million tons by 1971. Also since 1952/53 the number of passengers carried by rail rose by 32%,from about 2.4 million to about 3.1 million. Inland water trans~ort traffic has increased steadily through the years and operations have If been ~reatly improved in recent years by the dieselization of steamers. In the past 12 years, freight traffic through Port Sudan rose from about one million to 2.4 million tons, of which 897,000 tons were exports and 1.5 million tons, imports. The principal exports are cotton, cotton seed oil cake, groundnuts, dura, sesame and gum arabic. Imports consist primarily of petroleum products, cement, sugar, wheat, iron and steel, fertilizer, salt and lumber. The works to be exe~~ted and the goods to be procured by the Sudan Railways with the assistance of the Bank loan include the procurement of 14 main line and 23 shunting diesel locomotives and three diesel rail car sets; the procurement of ~ 460 freight cars and components for 41 passenger and 40 service cars; the improve- ment of present rolling stock by the installation of automatic couplers and roller bearings; the relaying of about 313 miles of the Khartoum-Atbara-Port Sudan line with 90-pound rail; the acquisition qf a dredger and some equipment and materials for the improvement of river transport services; and the procurement of tu.gs, barges, cranes and other cargo-handling equipment fot Port Sudan. The new locomotives will permit the further dieselization of the w.ain lines and the diesel shunters will replace obsolete steam shunters. The new rolling stock consists mainly of replacements, but will also afford greater capacity and higher technical st~ndards. The rails to be replaced on the line between Khartoum and Port Sudan are old and worn out and rail breaking~ occur fr:equently. 1; The  - 3 - • heavier rail will increase the speed of trains, improve utilization of locomotives and rolling stock, and increase operating efficiency in general. The new equip- ment at Port Sudan will improve port operations and take care of peak ship~ing traffic. The loan announced today will be for a term of 25 years and bear interest at the rate of 5-1/2% per annum. Amortization will begin August 15, 1970. This will be the Bank's fourth loan to Sudan, bri.nging total lending there to $105 million. This includes an earlier loan of $39 million for the Sudan Railways and two loans totaling $35 million for irrigation • • •