In the early 1990s, transportation in Sudan included a natural inland waterway—the Nile River and its tributaries—a meager road network (very little of which consisted of all-weather roads), an extensive railroad system that served the more important populated areas except in the far south, a national airline that operated both domestically and internationally, and a natural inland waterway. Port Sudan, a significant deep-water port on the Red Sea, and a modest but modern national merchant marine complemented this infrastructure. Additionally, petroleum products were transported via pipeline from the port to Khartoum.

By the beginning of the 1980s, neither Sudanese nor foreign observers believed that much had been done to improve the largely ineffectively operated transport facilities that were already in place. The system was put under more and more stress as economic development received more attention. The development of the transportation sector received a significant portion of public investment funds beginning in the middle of the 1970s. By the beginning of the 1980s, there had been reports of some progress toward the goals for the equipment; however, much more modernization and personnel with adequate training were still needed. Inadequate transportation was anticipated to be a major obstacle to Sudan's economic development until these were in place.