IN SHORT: Sudan’s Finance Minister Dr. Gebreil Ibrahim signed a $51 million agreement with the African Development Bank and UNICEF in Khartoum on June 4, converting three stalled water and sanitation projects into a single operational Emergency Water and Sanitation Project serving Port Sudan, North Kordofan and South Kordofan. The deal represents one of the most significant international development investments in Sudan since the ceasefire period began, and will be implemented over three years starting August 31, 2026. UNICEF will act as third-party implementing agency, adding operational credibility to a project portfolio that had previously stalled due to the country’s ongoing conflict.
Sudan has secured a $51 million African Development Bank financing agreement that will rehabilitate water infrastructure and expand sanitation services in Port Sudan and two Kordofan states, converting three previously suspended development projects into a single emergency programme that UNICEF will implement on the ground, providing a credible delivery mechanism for funding that had been stranded by conflict. The agreement was signed at the Ministry of Finance in Khartoum on June 4 by Finance Minister Dr. Gebreil Ibrahim on behalf of Sudan, David Masuki on behalf of the AfDB, and UNICEF Resident Representative Sheldon Yett as the implementing agency.
- The three-year project will serve two immediate priorities simultaneously. In Port Sudan, the Red Sea State capital that has become Sudan’s effective administrative and commercial hub following displacement from Khartoum, the project will rehabilitate the Arbaat well field and transmission networks, construct a 10,000 cubic metres per day desalination plant and build dams at Kilometer 14. These are critical infrastructure investments for a city whose population has been swollen by internal displacement from conflict zones and whose water systems were designed for a fraction of the current demand.
- In South Kordofan, the project will fund emergency interventions to rehabilitate water services in El-Obeid using solar energy and establish eight water yards to extend water access to communities that have been cut off from municipal supply by conflict and infrastructure collapse.
- The UNICEF role as third-party implementing agency is the structural innovation that makes this deal credible. UNICEF has maintained operational capacity inside Sudan throughout the conflict, giving it the supply chains, local partnerships and security protocols to actually deliver infrastructure projects in environments where the AfDB cannot deploy staff directly. This arrangement has become the standard model for development financing in active conflict zones.
- The funding of $51 million will be disbursed in three instalments tied to the completion of work plans and progress reports. The performance-linked disbursement mechanism is designed to ensure accountability in a context where governance systems are severely weakened and the risk of fund diversion is high.
- Sudan has been in various stages of conflict since the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. The conflict has caused one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with an estimated 11 million people internally displaced and many millions facing acute food and water insecurity. Port Sudan, as the city furthest from the primary conflict zones, has absorbed a significant portion of the displaced population.
The $51 million AfDB-UNICEF water deal is a carefully scoped intervention in an extraordinarily difficult operating environment. It does not address the conflict. It does not restore the broader Sudanese economy. What it does is provide safe water access to a measurable number of people in Port Sudan and the Kordofan states through a proven delivery mechanism. In the context of Sudan’s crisis, that is a meaningful outcome. The AfDB’s willingness to finance and UNICEF’s willingness to implement signal that the international development system, which had largely withdrawn from Sudan, is finding a path back to engagement through humanitarian-grade implementation structures.
The Bigger Picture: Water infrastructure is often described as the most basic development investment. In Sudan in 2026, it is also the most urgent. Port Sudan’s role as Sudan’s functioning economic and administrative gateway gives the water investments there strategic significance beyond the immediate humanitarian benefit: a functional, reliable water system in Port Sudan is a prerequisite for the city to serve as the platform for Sudan’s eventual economic recovery. The AfDB’s decision to structure the financing through UNICEF rather than waiting for governance conditions to normalise is a pragmatic acknowledgement that development cannot pause for peace. Where credible delivery mechanisms exist, the work continues.
Source: AllAfrica, June 5 2026 / Sudan News Agency, June 4 2026
