A new era in Egyptian-Sudanese relations has begun, Egypt's Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli and his Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok said during the former's visit to Khartoum earlier this week. During a press conference held after their talks in the Sudanese capital, Madbouli said the two countries had drawn up a cooperation strategy to promote mutual interests. The composition and size of the delegation that accompanied Madbouli to Khartoum reflected the importance accorded to advancing bilateral relations after three decades of steady souring under the rule of Sudan's Omar Al-Bashir. The two countries agreed to boost trade by removing obstacles hindering the exchange of goods, cooperate over investment, facilitate opportunities for Egyptian companies to invest in Sudan and boost cooperation in the field of transport. Egypt and Sudan agreed to restructure and develop the Nile Valley Authority for River Navigation, an Egyptian-Sudanese organisation that oversees the transport of passengers and goods. They called for a meeting of the Egyptian-Sudanese Committee in Khartoum, and to develop the use of the two countries' ports on the Red Sea. They agreed to intensify cooperation in healthcare, education, and to further consolidate links between their power grids. On the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Cairo and Khartoum reiterated their rejection of unilateral actions and stressed that current African Union-brokered talks should conclude in a legally binding agreement with an effective mechanism to solve any future disputes that may ensue between the three states. Hamdok said Madbouli's visit was an effective green light to activating protocols that the two sides have signed. The stagnation that beset Egyptian-Sudanese relations for three decades wasted vast opportunities available to the two states, something the political leadership of the two countries now realise. Now, facing similar regional and international challenges, Cairo and Khartoum are determined to make up for the lost time. Egypt and Sudan have vast reserves of natural and human resources, share a common history, extensive cultural ties and a distinctive geographic location. They are commonalities that can make the two countries an influential axis in the Arab and African sphere, promoting the stability and prosperity of both the region and the continent. The many protocols and agreements Egypt and Sudan have signed in the last 50 years have almost always been consigned to the drawer. It is high time they were activated. The development needs of both countries will best be served by removing impediments in the way of the free movement of people, capital and investments. The region still suffers the repercussions of colonialism that divided the peoples of Egypt and Sudan, divisions that the post-independence regimes sometimes compounded. GERD has made it clear it is necessary for the two countries to cooperate, and to coordinate their strategic visions. The Khartoum meeting could not have made this point clearer. It sent a message to regional and international parties concerned with the GERD file that Egypt and Sudan have common interests and positions, their demands are fair, and that the ongoing dispute will only be resolved by a balanced and fair agreement that preserves the rights of Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa. There is no place for a fait accompli, or the exercise of hegemony over a joint water source on which the lives of millions of Egyptians and Sudanese depend.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 August, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
