Improvements in infrastructure in allparts of Sudan in recent years have had a strong impact onper capita growth, contributing 1.7 percentage points.Consistent with trends in other countries, the informationand communication (ICT) revolution that swept Africacontributed the most to Sudan. Raising the infrastructureendowment of all parts of Sudan to that of the region'sbest performer, Mauritius, could boosts annual growth byabout 3.5 percentage points. Sudan has invested heavily ininfrastructure in recent years, with some notableachievements. Power generation capacity tripled in just afew years, rising from around 800 megawatts (MW) in 2005 to2,687MW in 2007, with a shift toward hydropower.Nevertheless, service reliability remains an issue. In ICT,Sudan has made enormous strides in liberalizing the sectorand as a result has attracted significant private capital.Mobile penetration soared from less than 1 percent in 2000to 33 percent in 2009. Recent connectivity to an underseafiber-optic cable has led to expansions in access,improvements in quality, and reduction in prices. Lookingahead, Sudan's most pressing infrastructure challengeslie in the water and transport sectors. Sudan'sinfrastructure development has so far had a national focus,and there is much that remains to be done to achieve greaterregional integration. While internal road corridors aredeveloped, connectivity with neighbors is largely absent.Sudan has a natural gateway to the sea through Port Sudanbut the port's performance is severely hindered by longdwell times, high costs, and capacity constraints. Lookingfurther ahead, Sudan has the potential to be a majorhydropower exporter if additional capacity could bedeveloped and transmission links with neighboring Nile Basincountries strengthened.
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