VZCZCXRO8399
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0464/01 0901356
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301356Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0336
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0123
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000464 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KPKO ECON AU EFIN SU
SUBJECT: NORTH DARFUR'S ECONOMY - UNAMID GIVES A BOOST TO A 
BELEAGURED REGION 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  The Secretary General of North Darfur's Chamber 
of Commerce, Rashid Mekki, told econoff on March 26 that the 
presence of UNAMID has given a small boost to the region's 
struggling economy, particularly the construction, real-estate (with 
land prices increasing twenty times in four years), and service 
sectors.  Mekki stated that UNAMID should award more contracts to 
local businessmen, warning that Sudanese citizens will evaluate it 
not only on its ability to bring security, but its overall affect on 
Sudan's economy.  Mekki also strongly criticized the Government of 
Sudan's economic policies.  END SUMMARY. 
 
HARD TIMES 
- - - - - - 
¶2.  (U)   Mekki emphasized that since the start of the Darfur 
crisis, the region's economy has been in shambles.  "We are just 
consumers in Darfur.  We don't produce anything anymore," said 
Mekki.  Mekki noted that Darfur's agriculture sector has been 
particularly hit by the conflict with record lows of livestock and 
agricultural exports.  He added that almost everything in Darfur 
costs more than it does elsewhere in the country, from electricity 
to transportation.  Mekki stated that taxes and permit fees in 
Darfur are just as high as they are elsewhere in Sudan, but that the 
citizens of Darfur do not see any of these funds coming back into 
the region through government development and infrastructure 
projects.    Mekki also noted that many of Darfur's prominent 
businessmen and business families left the region at the start of 
the conflict, and will likely never come back to Darfur. 
 
"UNAMID'S PRESENCE IS POSITIVE... 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
¶3.  (U)  Mekki stated that he welcomes UNAMID's presence, and that 
it delivered new jobs and investment to El-Fasher.  He stated that 
the city has never witnessed this level of  construction and its 
corresponding increase in service jobs.  Mekki stated that, in 
particular, El-Fasher's land owners have profited from this small 
boom.  According to Mekki (and verified by other Sudanese contacts,) 
in 2003-2004, the price of land was 5,000 Sudanese pounds for 400 
square meters of land, and today, only four years later, it is close 
to 100,000 pounds.  "This price increase of twenty times in only a 
few short years is making a lot of people rich," stated Mekki.  He 
noted that rent prices have risen in a proportionate fashion to the 
price of land. 
 
... BUT IT HAS DOWN SIDE TOO." 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
¶4.  (SBU)  Mekki said that El-Fasher's poor and working class lament 
this real estate boom.  He also noted that many small Sudanese 
business people have become frustrated that UNAMID has awarded more 
contracts to non-Sudanese companies.  "If the people of Darfur do 
not see a benefit from UNAMID, including an economic one, they will 
reject the force and hatred for UNAMID will build," stated Mekki. 
For example, stated Mekki, a Lebanese contractor recently won a bid 
to provide bread to UNAMID forces and this contractor plans on 
expanding his business into the local market, which may drive out 
small local bakers.  Mekki called this "a significant problem" that 
could result in thousands of unemployed Sudanese. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) (Note:  In a separate meeting on March 23 with Sudan 
Program's Group Jason Small, Nicolas Von Ruben, the Acting Chief of 
UNAMID's Integrated Support Services, stated that delays in the 
arrival and work of engineering units may force UNAMID to hire the 
local "pick and shovel" brigade.  He stated that this Sudanese 
manpower could start the work needed to get UNAMID up and running 
until the engineering units and their equipment are ready for 
action. End note) 
 
GoS HURTS US MORE THAN U.S. SANCTIONS 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
¶5.  (SBU)  Mekki stated that U.S. sanctions have a very minimal 
effect on Darfur's economy, as "we suffer more from our own 
government than the United States."  He noted that there is a slight 
effect from U.S. sanctions on things such as the price of wheat. 
Mekki stated, however, that even in the case of wheat GoS policies 
are as much to blame for the high prices.  He called the Minister of 
Finance Awad Al-Jaz's latest effort to keep the price of wheat down 
"a big show that was just propaganda with few tangible results." 
Mekki was equally critical of the Sudanese oil industry, alleging 
that all of Sudan's oil revenues are used to buy weapons and fight 
wars.  "The government can take their oil and go to hell," said 
Mekki. 
 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
¶6.  (SBU)  Mekki is right to highlight the economic impact of 
UNAMID's deployment and the potential for Sudanese citizen's to feel 
economically left-behind.  Although UNAMID cannot lower its 
 
KHARTOUM 00000464  002 OF 002 
 
 
standards to use local contractors, it should use them as frequently 
as is possible.  The idea of employing "the pick and shovel brigade" 
to jump start the construction of new UNAMID camps is a good one for 
the local economy and should improve the perception of UNAMID as an 
employer of local labor.  Although the Chief of UNAMID's Integrated 
Support Services was likely not thinking of the Sudanese economy 
when he proposed the idea, this could be a win-win economic 
arrangement for UNAMID and the Sudanese people it intends to 
protect. 
 
FERNANDEZ