Little has been written about the work of Abdelmoneim Mustafa, one of the most respected architects in his homeland of Sudan and a pioneer in his profession in the mid-twentieth century. Esra Akcan, who made extensive research of his work with a team in Sudan during a small window of opportunity between 2019 and 2021, laments this lack of recognition thus, "How could someone as gifted as Moneim Mustafa… designer of some of the most exciting mid-century modernist buildings anywhere, be so neglected, so ignored out of Sudan, that to this day there is no internationally accessible publication in his name." Akcan's writings, coupled with the personal blog of Hashim Khalifa, who trained under Mustafa, shed light on his extensive legacy.
To understand his work in context, an appreciation of historical events in Khartoum is necessary. At the end of the nineteenth century, British rule over Sudan began after a short period of self-rule, which began after the ouster of the Ottoman Egyptians. The Ottoman fortified capital of Khartoum lay in ruins, its inhabitants having moved to the military capital across the river, Omdurman. No sooner had British rule begun than the construction of a new capital commence on the ruins of the old Khartoum. This was to be an orderly city with a gridiron plan and diagonals, the purpose of which was military, with anecdotes attesting to mounted heavy guns at major crossroads in the early days of the city.
