DAL Group is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Sudanese The demographics of Sudan include the Sudanese people () and their characteristics, Sudan, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. In Sudan' ...

conglomerate, the largest private company in the country. It operates across several business sectors including food,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

History

The DAL Group originated from the engineering company Sayer & Colley, founded in 1951 by two

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

partners when Sudan was under Anglo-Egyptian rule. Sayer & Colley later received

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

's franchise for the country. In 1966, ten years after Sudan's independence, Caterpillar transferred the franchise to the Sudanese Tractor Company (SUTRAC) owned by Daoud Abdellatif, with Sayer & Colley retaining a minority share. Both companies were

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

in 1970 then de-nationalized in 1971, although the government kept a minority share in both. Osama Daoud Abdellatif, Daoud Abdellatif's eldest son, joined SUTRAC in 1975 and became sales manager in 1978. After the government's share was bought out, he convinced his father to buy Sayer & Colley's share in 1979 and became CEO of SUTRAC the same year when Abdellatif became sick. Osama renamed the company DAL Engineering (his father's initials). DAL Agriculture was created soon after, leading to the creation of the DAL Group. Several additional companies under the DAL name have been created since. In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, DAL provided sanitization booths to the Ministry of Health in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

Business sectors

Agriculture

DAL Agriculture, founded in 1984, provides machinery and engineering services to Sudan's farmers. DAL Dairy Factory operates a dairy farm and co-operates with

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

to provide impoverished school children in the

Red Sea state Red Sea State ( ') is one of the 18 states of Sudan.States of Sudan
statoids.com It has an area of 212,800 km^{2< ...}

with milk. The DAL Group signed an agreement with the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

in March 2020, which provides a loan of up to $75 million to improve Sudan's food security and create more agricultural jobs. In October 2020, DAL and

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

-based IHC Food Holding agreed to invest $225 million over five years to develop 100,000 acres of farmland in

Abu Hamad Abu Hamad (, ), also spelt 'Abu Hamed', is a town of Sudan on the right bank of the Nile, by rail north of Khartoum. It stands at the centre of the great S-shaped bend of the Nile, and from it the railway to Wadi Halfa strikes straight across t ...

Automotive

DAL Motors operates several franchises in Sudan, including

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

since 1994,

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

since 2006, and

Kia Kia Corporation (, formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry (京城精密工業) and Kia Motors Corporation) is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second larges ...

. The company signed up to the

United Nations Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is the world's ...

, but was delisted in April 2019 for failing to provide an annual report.

Development

DAL Group partnered with the National Social Insurance Fund and Khartoum State on the Al Mogran Development, a $4.5 billion construction project in Central Khartoum, next to the confluence of the Blue and White Nile. The project consisted of two phases with the first phase being the creation of a Central Business District, and second phase consisting of 1500 acres of residential space. In light of the ongoing war in Darfur, the project came to a halt in 2007 after the United States included the project management company, Al Sunut Development to the OFAC Sudan sanctions list, due to its connection to the Sudanese government. In 2021, the Emirates Stallions Group announced a hospitality project within the Al Morgan Development in partnership with DAL Group worth $65.3 million. The project will consist of a 16-floor hotel and residences.

Food

DAL Food is the largest company within the group by business volume and operates

flour mills A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

under its Sayga brand. It has also produced and distributed

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

for the Sudanese market since 2002 and has a factory for processing

gum arabic Gum arabic (gum acacia, gum sudani, Senegal gum and by other names) () is a tree gum exuded by two species of '' Acacia sensu lato:'' '' Senegalia senegal,'' and '' Vachellia seyal.'' However, the term "gum arabic" does not indicate a partic ...

for export.

Others

DAL is involved in the

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

sector, having founded the Khartoum International Community School (KICS) in 2004. It also has a foothold in the

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

distribution and

industrial gas Industrial gases are the gaseous materials that are Manufacturing, manufactured for use in Industrial sector, industry. The principal gases provided are nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon, hydrogen, helium and acetylene, although many other ...

industries.

Controversies

There is criticism within

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

about subsidies given to companies involved in flour production and import, although the subsidies are intended to keep prices down for consumers and manufacturers.

References

{{reflist

External links

DAL Group CEO talks about the history of DAL Group on CNN Marketplace Africa.
Companies based in Khartoum Privately held companies Conglomerate companies established in 1951 1951 establishments in Sudan food and drink in Sudan