Haggar Group

About the Founder and Founding Story

Towards the end of the 19th century, Syrian trader Mikhail Haggar migrated from Aleppo to Sudan, where he lived in Omdurman and frequently traveled south to sell his goods. He came from a family involved in trade, with his father also being a merchant. ^[8] Omdurman was favored by local merchants, for its access to the Nile confluence and important trade routes and grew rapidly in the 1880s into a vibrant market center.^[9] In 1898, the Mahdist rule of Sudan was defeated by Anglo-Egyptian forces in the Battle of Omdurman, and the Condominium Agreement of 1899 was signed to establish joint administration of Sudan by the British and Egyptian governments.^[10]

After a few years in Sudan, Mikhail Haggar, registered the Haggar trading business in 1904 in Juba, now the capital of South Sudan.^[11]

Growth Phase

In 1915, Mikhail’s son, George, was born in Cairo. He was raised in Omdurman and attended the American School there in 1922, before continuing his studies at the Brummana School in Lebanon in 1927.^[12] After completing his education in 1932 in Beirut, he returned to Equatoria, a region in present-day South Sudan, where he decided to settle and assist his father with the family business.^[13] George soon became interested in the business, recognizing its potential for growth. In 1936, he made his first business breakthrough by purchasing a farm and starting tea and coffee plantations in Western Equatoria with his father, establishing the Sudan Tea and Coffee Plantation Co. Ltd. (STCP).^[14]

The coffee and tea business was a success, which led George to diversify into tobacco cultivation in the 1940s.^[15] In 1946, George met Alice Mufarrij, and the two married in Alexandria that same year and had three daughters—Salma, Nadia, and Noha—and one son, Anis.^[16]

In the following years, George ventured into the manufacturing of tobacco products by establishing the Haggar Cigarette & Tobacco Factory Limited (HCTF) in Western Equatoria in 1950.^[17] The factory is considered to have produced the first regionally manufactured cigarettes.^[18] The business gradually expanded to include other enterprises, such as a soap factory, gold mines, a transport company, and trading operations throughout Equatoria and along the borders of the then-Belgian Congo and Uganda.^[19]

The 1950s saw the end of Anglo-Egyptian colonial rule in Sudan, following the 1953 agreement that set 1956 as the date for self-determination and called for elections to establish self-governance.^[20] However, the new administration’s failure to address regional representation concerns from the South, combined with deep cultural and religious divisions, as well as political marginalization, led to the First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972).^[21] Haggar’s agribusiness enterprise, which employed a total of 5,000 people in the 1950s, was severely impacted by the civil war and subsequent political actions.^[22]

In 1963, George was forced to leave southern Sudan by the northern military regime of General Ibrahim Abboud for security reasons.^[23] He moved to Khartoum, where the business headquarters had to be relocated due to the civil war raging in southern Sudan.^[24] In 1964, rebuilding the business began in Khartoum, starting with the Haggar Cigarette and Tobacco Factory, then plastic manufacture, air cargo and cattle exportation.^[25] In the 1960s, third-generation members became involved in the family business, with George’s son, Anis George Haggar, joining the enterprise.^[26] Towards the end of the decade, in 1968, the family-run business expanded, and Haggar diversified into investment and business activities in the UK and Morocco.^[27]

In 1970, George Haggar’s property and businesses were confiscated by General Nimeiri’s military regime as part of economic policies that mandated the seizure of assets. This led Haggar to relocate to Liberia. In 1972, the Addis Ababa Agreement was signed, defining the powers of the central government of Sudan and the regional government of South Sudan, restoring peace in the south and ending the 17-year war.^[28] Following the agreement, George’s confiscated properties and business assets were returned to him in 1973. George returned to South Sudan, and stability began to return to the Equatorial Province.^[29]

In the following decades, the business experienced remarkable expansion. From 1974 to 1995, the Haggar Group founded over twenty-five companies across Sudan.^[30] In 1978, oil was discovered in Southern Sudan, and as the economy consequently developed, the Haggar Group created an advertising agency and diversified its interests, while the tobacco business continued to develop in the 1980s.^[31]

In the 1990s, the fourth generation of the Haggar family, including George Anis Haggar and Anthony Anis Haggar, joined the company. The company also expanded its investment activities and operations in the UK, France, Liberia, Germany, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, New Zealand, and South Africa. In 1996, George passed away and was succeeded by his son Anis.^[32]

In 2011, South Sudan was officially declared independent of Sudan and has since been known as the Republic of South Sudan.^[33] During the 2000s, the business continued to diversify, establishing subsidiaries in various industries. The Haggar Group founded Dolphin (2013), a global communications carrier; and Sanctuary Estate Development Company—SEDCO—(2014), a real estate company.^[34]

Today

Today, the Haggar Group, headquartered in Dubai, is led by Chairman Anis Haggar, with his sisters Nadia, Noha, and Salma as shareholders.^[35] The fourth-generation members, George Anis Haggar and Anthony Anis Haggar, actively serve on the Board of Directors.^[36] The group operates across eight sectors, including Agriculture, Energy, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and has investments in Northern and Southern Sudan as well as six other African countries.^[37]