CAIRO: The Bank of Khartoum has lent $4.9 million to finance the first phase of planting of maize for a Citadel Capital agricultural platform company in Sudan, the Cairo-based private equity firm said on Sunday.

The loan is to Sabina Solutions, in which Citadel has a 21 percent stake, and a subsidiary of Wafra Co, Citadel’s Sudan agriculture arm, the firm said in a regulatory filing.

It will enable the planting of an initial 2,000 acres of white corn, Citadel said.

Citadel in April said it had signed a 30-year lease to build Sudan’s first large-scale commercial rice farm.

The firm has invested around $750 million in Sudan since 2007, in agriculture, logistics, cement and mining projects.