Sudanese companies signed up to $500 million worth of deals with Brazilian agricultural, construction and engineering groups, the head of the African state's biggest sugar company said on Sunday.
Africa's largest country, shut out of the US market by harsh sanctions, has been expanding its trade with China, India, Brazil and the Middle East while trying to diversify its economy away from its main export, oil.
Mohamed El Mardi, managing director of Kenana Sugar Company, told Reuters that Sudanese companies accompanying a Khartoum government delegation to Brasilia signed scores of initial agreements, many of them funded with Brazilian credit.
Kenana signed two deals with Brazil's Dedini to provide machinery and equipment to double the size of Kenana's ethanol plant in Sudan and to set up a new biodiesel operation, he said after returning from the trip, without going into further detail.