This paper examines the industrial performance indicators and the relationships between skill
indicators; between skill, upskilling, technology and input-output indicators in Sudan. Our
findings are consistent with the stylized facts in the new growth literature, concerning the
correlation between skill indicators: education, experience and wages and also concerning the
positive complementary relationships between technology, skill and upskilling. Different from the
Sudanese literature, a novel element in our analysis is that we use a new primary data from the
firm survey (2010) and we provide a new contribution and fill the gap in the Sudanese literature
by examining the industrial performance indicators defined by three different sets of economic and
productivity indicators, activity indicators and profitability indicators in Sudan. One advantage
and interesting element in our analysis in this paper is that we confirm three hypotheses on the
relationships between skill indicators; between skill, upskilling, technology and input-output
indicators and industrial performance indicators using new primary data from the firm survey
(2010) in Sudan. We verify our first hypothesis that irrespective of the observed differences across
the industrial firms, the low skill levels – due to high share of unskilled workers – lead to skills
mismatch and most probably contribute to decline of labour productivity and industrial
performance indicators. We confirm our second hypothesis that an increase in skill levels and firm
size lead to improved relationships between actual and required education and experience;
between actual education, experience and wages; and between skill, upskilling and technology
(ICT) and also improved industrial performance indicators. We also support our third hypothesis
concerning the inconclusive relationships between new technology (the use of ICT) and inputoutput
indicators at the micro/firm level. Finally, we provide a new contribution to the Sudanese
literature, since we explain that the performance of the industrial firms is most probably
immensely undermined by the shortage of skilled workers and also by the lack of entrepreneur
perspective. We recommend further efforts to be made to improve adequate availability of skilled
workers and commitment to entrepreneur perspective for improvement of labour productivity,
industrial performance and therefore, economic growth and development in Sudan.