Egypt is first in partnership with Sudan
Egypt is first in partnership with Sudan
Dr. Adel Abdel Aziz Al-Faki
There is a tremendous opportunity for strategic partnership between Sudan and Egypt. Egypt, which entered the list of the top twenty in the world with a gross domestic product of $1.4 trillion in the year 2022 (CIA Factbook statistics), could represent an economic hope for Sudan in the post-war period, God willing.
There are eight criteria for measuring the strategic relationship in Sudan’s relationship with Egypt. At the political and diplomatic level, the Egyptian government expressed its respect for Sudanese institutions, is leading a number of initiatives to address the situation in Sudan, and supports Sudan’s position in various international and regional institutions.
As for the level of military and security relations, there is a very ancient history of cooperation between the Sudanese and Egyptian armies, as the Sudan Defense Force arose from the womb of the Egyptian army, and in the 1967 war between Egypt and Israel, the Egyptian Air Force and the Egyptian Military College moved to operate from the Jabal al-Awliya area in Sudan. . Divisions from the Sudanese army participated within the Egyptian army in the wars of 1948/1967/1973 between Egypt and Israel, and also participated in the War of Attrition.
In the modern era, the Sudanese Air Force and the Egyptian Air Force carried out joint training from Merawi Air Base. The two armies coordinated in the Bright Star maneuvers with the American forces in several rounds of these maneuvers. While a number of Sudanese army officers, police officers, and Sudanese intelligence officers were trained at the Nasser Military Academy and Egyptian military, police, and security academic institutions, and in return, a number of Egyptian army officers were trained at the Numeiri Military Academy in Sudan and other security institutions.
Below are the economic relations between Sudan and Egypt. We find that, according to official statistics for the year 2022, the volume of Sudanese exports to Egypt amounted to about 520 million dollars, while Sudan’s imports from Egypt amounted to about 620 million dollars. That is, the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounts to 1,140 million dollars (one billion one hundred and forty million dollars). This value is considered much lower than the real value, because a large portion of trade between the two countries passes through unofficial routes.
In the current circumstances of war, the trade movement between Sudan and Egypt is gaining utmost importance as it is the most effective lifeline at the present time for supplying the various states of Sudan with foodstuffs and agricultural and industrial production inputs.
The opportunity appears to be favorable to increase Sudanese exports to Egypt in basic commodities, for example, Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world. According to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Egypt imported about 12.9 million tons of wheat in 2020, worth $3.2 billion. This quantity can be grown in the upper reaches of the Nile and Northern River states in Sudan, using solar energy technologies to irrigate agricultural areas from the renewable waters of the Nubian underground basin.
There are many joint economic projects between Sudan and Egypt in the implementation phase, the most important of which are the electrical interconnection project and the railway interconnection project. Regarding the railway connection, during the month of April 2022, a grant was provided from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development in the amount of 750 thousand Kuwaiti dinars (equivalent to 2.5 million dollars) to contribute to the preparation of technical, economic and environmental feasibility studies for the project to establish a railway linking Egypt and Sudan with a length of 570 km. While Sudan is currently being supplied with about 100 megawatts of electrical energy from Egypt, it is expected to reach 300 megawatts soon, and the ultimate goal is 1,000 megawatts in the future.
In aspects of social and cultural relations, Egypt and Sudan were linked by eternal relations based on ties of kinship, blood, one history, one language and one religion. Sudan has received scientific missions from Egypt since the era of the Pharaohs. Sudanese students also flocked to receive education at Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Egypt, which led to Sudan being influenced by the educational system at Al-Azhar. A special gallery was established for the Sudanese in Al-Azhar in 1836, known as the Sinariya Gallery.
On the humanitarian side, during the war, Sudan continued to receive huge humanitarian aid convoys from the Arab Republic of Egypt. Based on the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, it contains various relief materials (food, medicine, tents, mattresses, blankets…), as well as supply convoys with medicines and medical supplies.
Based on these elements, Egypt is the first country in the strategic partnership with Sudan after the end of the war.
