Complicit Dossier

State-owned and co-opted commercial entities · military-owned holding company · Sudan

Zadna International Company for Investment Ltd

شركة زادنا العالمية للإستثمار المحدودة · شركة زادنا الدولية للاستثمار المحدودة

  • Part of the SAF or state-controlled
  • Grade A: Official recordStrongest record: official record
  • Sanctioned byCAEUUKUS
  • 11 documented ties · 1 step from the SAF

Also recorded as: ZADNA INTERNATIONAL FOR INVESTMENT; ZADNA INTERNATIONAL FOR INVESTMENT COMPANY; ZADNA INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT CO., LTD.; ZADNA INTERNATIONAL COMPANY FOR INVESTMENT LIMITED; ZADNA COMPANY; ZADNA INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS; Zadna International Company for Investment Limited; Zadna Company; …

OFAC: 'one of the most important components of the SAF's commercial empire... Formerly a subsidiary of... DIS... moved under the control of the SAF's Special Fund for the Social Security of the Armed Forces (SFSSAF) with the express purpose of shielding it from civilian oversight... continues its operations - and its funding of the SAF'.

Their response

  • Sudanese Foreign Ministry rejected the listing, calling Zadna the largest national agricultural company and the justification baseless (Sudan Tribune, 1 Feb 2024; reader paraphrase, Arabic wording not captured).

Records

8

Each record carries its own grade. A grade describes the source for that record, not the actor.

Grade A: Official record

Zadna International Company for Investment Limited

OFAC: 'one of the most important components of the SAF's commercial empire... Formerly a subsidiary of... DIS... moved under the control of the SAF's Special Fund for the Social Security of the Armed Forces (SFSSAF) with the express purpose of shielding it from civilian oversight... continues its operations - and its funding of the SAF'.

Why this grade
A (sanctions findings incl. ownership); B (C4ADS)
Sanctions
US OFAC, SUDAN-EO14098, 2024-01-31; EU, 2024-01-22; UK; Canada; Switzerland
  1. 1US Treasury: Treasury Targets Entities Funding the Conflict in Sudan · home.treasury.gov · 31 Jan 2024
  2. 2Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/384 (Sudan listings: DIS, SMT Engineering, Zadna) - URL constructed from regulation number, not fetched; statement of reasons read via OpenSanctions/EU FSF export · eur-lex.europa.eu · 22 Jan 2024
  3. 3OpenSanctions consolidated sanctions targets (export 2026-10-03) incl. EU FSF / UK / OFAC statements of reasons · data.opensanctions.org · 3 Oct 2026
  4. 4OFAC SDN list (XML), publication dated 10/02/2026, record 19488; local copy raw/sdn.xml parsed with scripts/sdn_sudan.py · treasury.gov · 2 Oct 2026
  5. 5C4ADS Sudan SCE Explorer dataset (Ministry of Finance inventory, RDC seizures, C4ADS investigations) - extracted from site bundle · sudansce.c4ads.org · Jun 2022
  6. 6C4ADS, Breaking the Bank: How Military Control of the Economy Obstructs Democracy in Sudan (read from local copy raw/btb.pdf; landing-page URL not verified) · c4ads.org · Jun 2022

NamesSFSSAF

Grade A: Official record

Zadna International Company for Investment Ltd

pre-war to present

99% owned by the Special Fund for the Social Security of the Armed Forces (EU). US Treasury (31 January 2024): 'one of the most important components of the SAF's commercial empire'; it 'had been one of the top-three revenue earners for the DIS'; and, citing public media reporting, it has been 'Called a vehicle for military money-laundering'. EU: 'a leading company engaged in high-profile international business deals and is one of the top revenue earners in the army's network of companies'.

Response
No response located in the sources reviewed.
Sanctions
US OFAC SDN 2024-01-31; EU 2024-01-22; UK; Canada; Switzerland.
  1. 1US Treasury press release jy2066 (Zadna, Alkhaleej Bank, Al-Fakher) · home.treasury.gov · 31 Jan 2024
  2. 2OpenSanctions consolidated sanctions export (EU FSF, UK FCDO, OFAC SDN texts), snapshot 2026-10-03 · opensanctions.org · 3 Oct 2026

NamesSFSSAF

Grade A: Official record

Zadna International Company for Investment – in-kind support convoy to the armed forces

On 20 Oct 2024 in Omdurman, Lt Gen Yasir al-Atta (then assistant commander-in-chief) received a Zadna delegation that 'presented support and backing to the armed forces in the Battle of Dignity'; Zadna's deputy director-general (a serving lieutenant-general) pledged the company's full readiness to stand with the army until the RSF is eliminated.

Fact-check
None.
Source
official SAF-side (Transitional Sovereignty Council media office channel; presents as official, signed 'إعلام مجلس السيادة الانتقالي', active since 2020; not cross-verified from a government website)
  1. 1Sovereignty Council media office · t.me · 20 Oct 2024
Grade A: Official record

Zadna International – works at Merowe airport and Northern State projects

On 28 June 2024 Lt Gen Ibrahim Jabir (assistant commander-in-chief) inspected Zadna projects in Northern State and was briefed on Zadna's 'maintenance works at Merowe airport' (Merowe hosts a SAF air base).

Fact-check
None.
Source
official SAF-side (Transitional Sovereignty Council media office channel; presents as official, signed 'إعلام مجلس السيادة الانتقالي', active since 2020; not cross-verified from a government website)
  1. 1Sovereignty Council media office · t.me · 28 Jun 2024
Grade B: Corroborated

Zadna International Company for Investment Ltd - 2026 update

June 2026: Zadna and the state Sudan Cotton Company (director-general Lt Gen Dr Nasr-Eddin Abdel-Fattah) discussed joint projects in the 'Zadi One' scheme and Gezira Scheme. No foreign partner named.

Why this grade
B (state news agency report)
Sanctions
EU, 2024-01-22; US OFAC, 2024-01-31
›Research notes

Management has changed since the EU statement of reasons (which named Taha Hussein Yousef as director-general in May 2023). zadna-int.com unreachable; no foreign-registered Zadna affiliate found in HK, Cyprus or GLEIF.

  1. 1SUNA via AllAfrica: Zadna, Sudan Cotton Company discuss expanding partnership · allafrica.com · 8 Jun 2026read via summary
  2. 2C4ADS Sudan SCE Explorer dataset (Ministry of Finance inventory / RDC seizures; 2019-2021 snapshot) - local extract raw/c4ads_sce_nodes.json, raw/c4ads_sce_edges.json · sudansce.c4ads.org · Jun 2022
Grade C: Single source

Zadna International Company for Investment

EU (22 Jan 2024) describes Zadna as an agriculture and construction holding 99% owned by SAF; OFAC listed it 31 Jan 2024.

Why this grade
Press report of an official act. The primary record is cited in another record for this actor.
Response
Sudanese Foreign Ministry rejected the listing, calling Zadna the largest national agricultural company and the justification baseless (Sudan Tribune, 1 Feb 2024; reader paraphrase, Arabic wording not captured).
Source
London-based pan-Arab daily (Qatari-owned)
  1. 1Al-Quds Al-Arabi · alquds.co.uk · 22 Jan 2024
Grade D: Unverified lead

Zadna in 2026: new managing director, Sovereignty Council backing, works in South Kordofan (company page, officialness not established)

2026-05 to 2026-08

A page in the name of Zadna's agricultural department, signing as the company's media office, reported that on 9 Aug 2026 Sovereignty Council member Gen. Shams al-Din Kabashi met Zadna's managing director, Ali Khalifa Askouri, discussed completing 'the Habila - Dilling road and Kadugli airport' in South Kordofan and 'affirmed the Sovereignty Council's readiness to support the company's plans'. The page also shows Burhan and the prime minister at Zadna's stand at the Army Day exhibition (15-16 Aug 2026) and a speech by the managing director for 'the 72nd anniversary of our armed forces'. SMRC's page separately names the same managing director in a 20 May 2026 meeting on gold markets.

Response
No company response sought.
Sanctions
US 31 Jan 2024; EU 22 Jan 2024.
›Research notes

The Zadna page has about 5,200 followers and no verification badge; it could not be established as official, so its content is graded D. The managing director's name and the SMRC meeting are confirmed by SMRC's page (official). One web search found no independent report of the Kabashi meeting. Kadugli airport and the Habila - Dilling road are in an active war zone; the earlier record of Zadna works at Merowe airport is the comparable case.

  1. 1Zadna International Company for Investment (Agricultural Department) Facebook page: Kabashi meets Zadna's managing director · facebook.com · 15 Aug 2026
  2. 2Zadna International Company for Investment (Agricultural Department) Facebook page: speech of the managing director on the 72nd anniversary of the armed forces · facebook.com · 15 Aug 2026
  3. 3Sudanese Mineral Resources Company Facebook page (smrcsudan): SMRC and Zadna discuss cooperation and creating markets to control gold movement · facebook.com · 20 May 2026

Namesal-BurhanSMRC

3 more records below grade A (corroborated, single-source or unverified). Change “Evidence shown” to see them.

2 more records at grade C (single source) or D (unverified lead). Change “Evidence shown” to see them.

1 more record at grade D (unverified lead). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.

Checked against the document

4

Statements compared with the wording of the primary document.

  • “Zadna International Co for Development Ltd (Zadna) has been and continues to be one of the most important components of the SAF’s commercial empire. [...] According to public media reporting, Zadna was moved under the control of the SAF’s Special Fund for the Social Security of the Armed Forces (SFSSAF) with the express purpose of shielding it from civilian oversight. Called a vehicle for military money-laundering, Zadna had been one of the top-three revenue earners for the DIS, and continues its operations — and its funding of the SAF — to the present.”

    US Treasury press release jy2066, "Treasury Targets Entities Funding the Conflict in Sudan"31 Jan 2024verified verbatim

    Correction: finance.json #5 misquotes: (1) Treasury says Zadna "had been one of the top-three revenue earners for the DIS", not "one of the SAF's top-three revenue earners"; (2) Treasury writes "Called a vehicle for military money-laundering" (a reported characterisation following "According to public media reporting"), not its own finding - finance_notes.md "described by Treasury as" should read "which Treasury said had been called". (3) The release body names the firm "Zadna International Co for Development Ltd" while the SDN entry is "...FOR INVESTMENT LTD" - use the SDN name. Arabic-thread item giving "31 December 2024" (Ayin) is wrong; 31 January 2024 is correct.

  • OFAC recent-actions pages and SDN.XML published 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026verified verbatim

  • “International Company for Investment Limited (ZANDA COMPANY LTD) is an involved person under the Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 as it is associated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), an involved person. It provides support to the SAF, and funding for activity which threatens the peace, stability and security of Sudan.”

    UK Sanctions List, SUD001112 Jul 2023verified verbatim

  • “Zadna International Company for Investment Limited (Zadna) is a holding company in agriculture and construction, which is 99 % owned by the SAF controlled Special Fund for the Social Security of the Armed Forces (SFSSAF), formerly known as the Charity Organisation for the Support of the Armed Forces. The leader of the SAF, Commander Al-Burhan, appointed in October 2021 General El Mirghani Idris Suleiman as Chairman of Zadna, who is one of his friends and Director of DIS.”

    Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/384, Annex, B.322 Jan 2024verified verbatim

    Correction: finance.json #5 renders the EU text as "party to flagship international commercial agreements and one of the main revenue sources of the army's company network" - not the English OJ wording, which is "a leading company engaged in high-profile international business deals and is one of the top revenue earners in the army’s network of companies". Use the OJ wording.

Relationships

15

← means the other party acts on this one; → means this one acts on the other.

Ownership and control · 12

6 more relationships below grade A (corroborated, single-source or unverified). Change “Evidence shown” to see them.

Money · 3

1 more relationship below grade A (corroborated, single-source or unverified). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.

Sanctions listings

3

  • United Kingdom12 Jul 2023SUD0011

    ›Stated reason

    Zadna International Company for Investment Limited (ZANDA COMPANY LTD) is an involved person under the Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 as it is associated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), an involved person. It provides support to the SAF, and funding for activity which threatens the peace, stability and security of Sudan. It is an involved person by carrying out activity that undermines efforts at resolving the conflict. sanctionslist.fcdo.gov.uk

  • European Union22 Jan 2024EU.11094.30

    ›Stated reason

    Zadna International Company for Investment Limited (Zadna) is a holding company in agriculture and construction, which is 99 % owned by the SAF controlled Special Fund for the Social Security of the Armed Forces (SFSSAF), formerly known as the Charity Organisation for the Support of the Armed Forces. The leader of the SAF, Commander Al-Burhan, appointed in October 2021 General El Mirghani Idris Suleiman as Chairman of Zadna, who is one of his friends and Director of DIS. In May 2023, he also appointed Dr. Taha Hussein Yousef as Director-General of Zadna. The SFSSAF and Zadna are part of the vast network of companies and organisations owned or controlled by the SAF, which are used to sustain the power of the armed forces over the Sudanese economy. Zadna is a leading company engaged in high-profile international business deals and is one of the top revenue earners in the army’s network of [...]

  • United States (OFAC)31 Jan 2024OFAC SDN UID 46819

    ›Stated reason

    Zadna International Co for Development Ltd (Zadna) has been and continues to be one of the most important components of the SAF’s commercial empire. Formerly a subsidiary of the SAF’s Defense Industries System (DIS), which was sanctioned by Treasury in June 2023 for being responsible for, or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Sudan. According to public media reporting, Zadna was moved under the control of the SAF’s Special Fund for the Social Security of the Armed Forces (SFSSAF) with the express purpose of shielding it from civilian oversight. Called a vehicle for military money-laundering, Zadna had been one of the top-three revenue earners for the DIS, and continues its [...] home.treasury.gov

Geography

Tags come from the recorded jurisdiction and from place names in the records. Coordinates on the map are approximate.

Based in
Sudan
Also named
Cyprus (1)
Places
Omdurman, Merowe, Wad Madani / Gezira, Northern State

Position in the network

Derived by analysing the documented relationships. Nothing in this section is a finding.

Still connected to the SAF when only official records are counted. Ranks 6 in the file for how often it sits on the shortest documented chain between two others.

›Possible links to investigate · 5