Egypt signs almost $8bn in deals with Saudi Arabia

 Egypt has signed a raft of deals with Saudi Arabia worth nearly $8bn (£6.5bn) during a visit to Cairo by the Gulf kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

It includes a $1.5bn investment in a wind power plant in Egypt, the government said in a statement.

This was the Saudi crown prince’s first tour outside the Gulf for three years.

He will later travel for talks with the leaders of Jordan, then Turkey – in what will be the latest step in restoring ties damaged by the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018.

………………………………………………………………

UAE To Build Red Sea Port In Sudan In $6 Billion Investment Package

 

The United Arab Emirates will build a new Red Sea port in Sudan as part of a $6 billion investment package, DAL group chairman Osama Daoud Abdellatif, a partner in the deal, told Reuters.

Abdellatif said the package includes a free trade zone, a large agricultural project and an imminent $300 million deposit to Sudan’s central bank, which would be the first such deposit since an October military takeover.

Western donors suspended billions in aid and investment to Sudan after the coup, plunging an economy that was already struggling into further turmoil and depriving the government of much-needed foreign currency.

Ibrahim told Reuters on Wednesday that a memorandum of understanding had been signed with the UAE for a port and agricultural project, but the details have not previously been reported.

The finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on details of the deal.

The $4 billion port, a joint project between DAL group and Abu Dhabi Ports, owned by Abu Dhabi’s holding company ADQ, would be able to handle all kinds of commodities and compete with the country’s main national port, Port Sudan, Abdellatif said.

Located about 200 km (124 miles) north of Port Sudan, it would also include a free trade and industrial zone modelled after Dubai’s Jebel Ali, as well as a small international airport, he said. The project is in “advanced stages,” with studies and designs complete, he said.

Rumours of Gulf investments in Port Sudan, and in agricultural projects elsewhere in the country, have in the past stirred opposition and sometimes protests.

Port Sudan has long been plagued with infrastructure challenges and was shut by a political blockade for six weeks late last year, losing business from major international shippers.

The UAE deal also includes the $1.6 billion expansion and development of an agricultural project by Abu Dhabi conglomerate IHC and DAL Agriculture in the town of Abu Hamad in northern Sudan, Abdellatif said.

Alfalfa, wheat, cotton, sesame, and other crops would be grown and processed on the 400,000 acres of leased land, he said. A $450 million, 500 km (310 mile) toll road connecting the project to the port would be built as well, financed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

Under the agreement, the Fund would also make a deposit of $300 million to the Central Bank of Sudan, Abdellatif said.

Abdellatif said the agreement was reached initially in July 2021, under a civilian-led transitional government.

Two sources from the former cabinet, who asked not to be named, said a different version of the deal had been reviewed last year but ultimately did not move to a vote due to reservations.

Two high-level current Sudanese officials told Reuters the outlines of the new deal had been agreed between Sudanese leader General Abdelfattah al-Burhan and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed during a recent visit to the Gulf state.

In a disclosure to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Tuesday, Abu Dhabi Ports said it had “not signed any agreements in relation to a joint project to build a port in Sudan,” but added: “there are preliminary discussions taking place with the relevant authorities in Sudan.”

Representatives for ADQ, the Abu Dhabi Fund, IHC, and the Abu Dhabi and UAE governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Ourselves and our partners in the UAE, we have already invested in a bank, a hotel, mining,” said Abdellatif, whose conglomerate has also bid for control of one of Sudan’s largest telecom companies, Zain Sudan.

“The UAE wants a stable Sudan so they can do more and more of these investments, but we are not waiting for everything to be perfect,” he added.

After the military ousted Omar al-Bashir in 2019 following popular protests, the UAE and Saudi Arabia pledged a combined $3 billion in grants and in-kind aid to Sudan, which military and civilian leaders say was not delivered in full.

………………………………………………………

How Russia Has Outflanked Ukraine In Africa

Addresses to summits and national parliaments around the world by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky have become a staple of the diplomatic calendar over the last few months.

But when he spoke to the African Union (AU) on Monday only four heads of state from the continent listened in, with the others represented by subordinates or officials.

The disappointing turnout was symptomatic of the unequal struggle that Kyiv faces in getting across its message in a continent of 54 countries where it has just 10 embassies – only a quarter of the Russian presence.

So, in trying to shift African perspectives on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion war, Mr Zelensky cannot deploy political or security clout comparable with Moscow’s.

Ukraine is not a global military power and it is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council, unlike Russia.

As a result, many African leaders have concluded that they simply cannot afford to emulate direct Western confrontation with Moscow.

That is particularly the case now that the blockage of grain export shipments from Ukraine is contributing to an already serious food crisis, driving up the price of imports and jeopardising the flow of wheat, other cereals and cooking oil to African countries that are not self-sufficient.

Early this month Senegal’s President Macky Sall, the current head of the AU, flew to the Russian Black Sea resort Sochi to discuss with Mr Putin how to free up the obstacles that are curbing desperately needed food exports from both Russia and Ukraine.

And last week South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa called Mr Putin to discuss deliveries of Russian agricultural products and fertiliser to Africa.

The talks produced some modest progress though not a decisive breakthrough.

Meanwhile, there are some hints that the invasion of Ukraine may be putting strain on Russian military engagement in Africa, with unconfirmed rumours of some troops from the mercenary group Wagner being called back from Central African Republic (CAR).

That would hardly be a surprise, given the demands of the intense military campaign in the crucial Donbas region.

However, there is no sign of a reduction in Wagner’s presence in Mali – where its men have frequently been seen on operations alongside national forces.

Dramatic new international context

Moreover, official Russian security and military deals in Africa are actually being reinforced, despite the needs of the Ukraine war.

Cameroon has become the latest target of this charm offensive.

Cameroon’s Defence minister Joseph Beti Assomo was in Moscow last month to join his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in signing a five-year military cooperation agreement.

This embraces intelligence, training and sharing expertise in tackling terrorism and maritime piracy. Joint exercises are planned.

The document makes no mention of arms shipments but hints suggestively that additional forms of collaboration could yet be agreed.

In fact, a 2015 deal had already provided for Russian deliveries of artillery and logistical and air support – useful for the campaign against jihadists in Cameroon’s Far North region.

Yet although this new agreement with Moscow is less specific, it appears to be stirring concern in Western capitals.

Within weeks the French foreign ministry’s Africa director, Christophe Bigot, had flown to Yaoundé, seemingly to reassure Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute that Paris too remains committed to economic, cultural and anti-terrorist cooperation.

However, Cameroon is going much further, taking the proactive decision to sign the new military cooperation agreement with Russia even as Russian forces continued to bombard Ukrainian cities.

This distinctive stance is probably explained by the domestic situation in Cameroon.

The French-speaking President Paul Biya is facing security challenges on two fronts: while his regime combats the Nigeria-based Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) in the Far North region, it is also engaged in a lengthy struggle to suppress the separatist rebellion in the country’s two English-speaking regions, South-West and North-West.

Besides Russia, Cameroon also has military cooperation agreements with France, China, Brazil and Turkey – and it used also to have an accord with the US.

……………………………………………………………

Medical clinic on water launches in Lagos

A “floating clinic” has been launched to deliver medical emergency services to those who live along rivers in the Nigerian state of Lagos.

At Wednesday’s launch of the mobile clinic, officials said the medical boat was equipped with offices, nurses’ workstations and medical facilities.

Speaking at its unveiling, Olusegun Ogboye, permanent secretary of Lagos State Ministry of Health, said the idea behind the floating clinic was to help “provide first aid, medical emergency care and basic healthcare services at accident scenes on the inland waterways and riverine communities in Lagos State.”

Dr Ogboye said there were many areas in Lagos that could only be accessed by water.

The Lagos state authorities also said that the boat would be used for the ongoing “measles and Covid vaccination campaign”.

This is the first initiative of its kind in Nigeria and the government of Lagos state has plans to expand the programme beyond one boat.

People standing next to the floating clinic

…………………………………………………………