Sudan visit to Egypt and Saudi Arabia a ‘success’

During a press conference in Khartoum, Sudanese Minister of Cabinet Affairs Khaled Omar described the visit of PM Abdallah Hamdok and his accompanying delegation to Saudi Arabia and Egypt as “successful.”

He stated that Sudan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are “strategic partners in this complex stage,” indicating that “the positive effects of these visits will appear very soon.”

Omar said that Sudan and Egypt have agreed that filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) should take place “after reaching a binding agreement between all parties” upon his return from Cairo on Friday.

The announcement came after Hamdok and Egyptian President Abdelfattah El Sisi agreed on Thursday to continue their efforts to communicate with international parties to “expand the umbrella of negotiations on the GERD” and to implement the Sudanese proposal to have international parties join a quadripartite mediation, including the EU and the US.

Funds

Omar also announced an investment partnership with Saudi Arabia for the amount of $3 billion to Sudan, in addition to the Kingdom’s commitments to support the democratic transformation process and to pay the remainder of the previous assistance the country has pledged.

The meeting between Sudanese officials, including Hamdok, and Saudi Arabia’s ruler, Prince Mohamed bin Salman, focused on the transformation of the Red Sea into “a large development area to eradicate the roots of terrorism and poverty” and increase tourism. The Red Sea Project features heavily in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to move away from reliance on oil.

Clear agreements for sharing resources with Egypt were reached for electrical interconnection, transportation, agriculture, and investment, along with cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of electricity supply from Egypt to Sudan will increase from 60 megawatts to 240 megawatts.

Jibril Ibrahim, Minister of Finance, also stressed the necessity of strengthening bilateral relations and the exchange of mutual benefits between the Sudan and Egypt during his meeting with his counterpart on Thursday. The finance ministers of the two countries talked about the possibility of entering the Paris Conference next May and how to benefit from the strong position of Egypt to support this conference.

Intelligence

Meetings were also held with Sudan and Egypt’s intelligence chiefs to discuss wanted persons. Omar clarified that the term ‘wanted persons’ includes those with criminal backgrounds and those working against the transitional government and the democratic transition process.

“The dialogue on the issue of wanted persons is continuous and the demand for the extradition of the wanted persons has always been on the table of discussion,” he said, indicating that meetings have been held to discuss intelligence information.