Zenawi’s visit is very significant
By Alfred Taban, the Khartoum Monitor
Dec 15, 2005 — The visit to Sudan of a high level delegation led by prime Minister Meles Zenawi is very significant. Ethiopia shares a very long border with both south and north Sudan and even if the country is to break up, Ethiopia would still be a neighbour to both. There are several tribes that straddle the border between the two countries, some of whom are not very friendly to one another. Whatever takes place in one country affects the other directly.
Both countries can offer a lot to each other. Sudan is now an oil exporter. Ethiopia has no petroleum resources and it would be cheaper, quicker and easier for both Sudan and Ethiopia if the latter obtained its oil needs from the former. Sudan can and is an exporter of sorghum to Ethiopia, which with its population of almost twice that of Sudan is a huge market.
The Blue Nile, which provides Sudan with a lot of its water for irrigation and for power generation flows from Ethiopia. The two countries have the largest number of livestock in Africa and through coordination, livestock disease control, research and the laying of a joint marketing strategy, they can become the single region supplying most of the livestock in Africa and in the Middle East.
Sudan has a number of sea ports, which landlocked Ethiopia can make use of. Both countries are very huge and they require ambitious road and rail networks to be able to convey their imports and exports to and from ports.
Trade between the two countries can still be greatly increased. The main reason why the two countries have not been able to benefit from their full potential has been internal imbalance. Both have been fighting dictatorships or regional challenges. Ethiopia gave its region a lot of their rights but the Meles Zenawi government failed to turn itself into a real and popular democracy after removing the Mengistu dictatorship.
In Sudan, the issue of marginalization in southern Sudan was resolved but that is till to happen in Darfur and eastern Sudan.
A lot of the resources and energies in both countries are going not to development but fighting insurgencies and dissidents, real and imagined.
Democracy and balanced development will bring about real progress in the political, economic and social field in both Sudan and Ethiopia.