UAE Emaar, Amlak buy 60% stake in Sudan El Nilein Bank
Oct 16, 2006 (BEIRUT) — Dubai-based Emaar Properties and Amlak Finance Monday acquired a 60% stake in Sudan’s El Nilein Industrial Development Bank for $80 million, a government banker in Khartoum said.
El Nilein Industrial Development Bank’s other 40% stake will remain in the hands of the government of Sudan, said Shawgi Azmi, director of the Sudanese National Company for Securities, a unit of government-owned Bank of Khartoum.
“This deal proves that Gulf investments in Sudan are still pouring in despite the political situation and the pressure from the international community on the country,” he told Zawya Dow Jones in a phone interview.
Emaar Properties weren’t immediately available for comment, while Emaar unit Amlak Finance Chief Executive Mohammed al-Hashemi declined to comment.
El Nilein Industrial Development Bank, one of the largest in Sudan, is the result of a merger in 1993 between the Industrial Development Bank of Sudan and El Nilein Bank.
The Dubai companies’ stake – one of several U.A.E. investments into Sudan – comes amid international concerns over the humanitarian conditions in the war-torn Darfur region of western Sudan.
Last week, the International Crisis Group said targeted sanctions are needed to prevent the humanitarian situation from worsening.
The non-governmental organization called for economic measures to be applied to key business interests, in particular Sudan’s petroleum sector.
(Dow Jones)