Khartoum – Moscow: A Rapprochement on Benefit Exchange

Sudan Events

Report by Nahid Oshi

The recent visit by the Sudanese Finance Minister Dr. Jibril Ibrahim to Moscow received extensive reactions and has been broadly reflected upon in terms of shifting the compass of common benefits to Moscow, especially after the war in Sudan entered its 10th month and the destruction it has left behind requires rebuilding and attracting large investments to the country.
Dr. Haitham Muhammad Fathi, an economics expert believes the Sudanese government is seeking, through this visit, to benefit from its relationship with Russia, which has massive investments in gold mining in Sudan, to restrain the support which Wagner Group, widely believed to be used by external powers to supply the Rapid Support Forces with weapons and equipment, from such activities.
Common Interests:
The Russians also have interests in Sudan, including maintaining the extraction of gold from the mines that Sudan enjoys. Russia is known to have investments in several sectors in Sudan, including the mining sector, and wants to enter into other fields.

It is no secret that Russian would like to have a foot on the Red Sea area and to be able to establish a naval base in the Red Sea State of Eastern Sudan, overlooking the Red Seas.
According to Dr. Haitham this base would give Russia a direct over view on the Red Sea, which is considered one of the most important trade corridors, globally. Furthermore, Sudan is the link between the Arab region and the African continent.
Russian expansion:
The Economist professor Naggi Mustafa has meanwhile argued that America’s main problem in Sudan is that it does not want Russian or Chinese expansion in Africa, so the best way to frustrate Russians from expanding in Sudan is to prolong the war and make the situation unstable. This, he believes is one of the reasons America supports both sides to the war and engages in mock negotiations, and has no serious intention of resolving the war.
It seems, he argued, the Sudanese government wanted to send this message to America through the Minister of Finance’s visit to Russia in an unclear economic program, and the message now to America is that Sudan is capable of reaching an understanding with Russia. Russia also has the desire to enter Sudan, even within the context of the war, even if it were a military presence to secure certain areas for economic investment.
Bringing peace:
But he reminds that main goal of the visit is not economic exchange, this idea is not on the table right now, even if the agenda of the visit is some kind of commodity financing or loans to support the armed forces and upcoming promises for trade exchange after the end of the war. I expect in the coming days a reaction from America, an impetus towards peace and sanctions on rapid support forces or facilities for the armed forces or a kind of spurring action in the issue of negotiations to reach peace and withdraw some conditions
Improving relationships:
Another economic expert, Dr. Muhammad Al-Nayer, pointed out that it was important for the Sudan to work for improving its relations with Russia, China, Turkey, and with countries that have weight at the regional and international levels, considering that this will greatly benefit Sudan in the next stage.
He said that the West did not offer Sudan anything and continued to use pressure policy without, for the Sudan in exchange, to gain anything or come out with any benefits from relations with America and Europe during the past eras. Therefore, he argued, Sudan must think about its strategic interests in the next stage and develop an integrated strategy based on consolidating relations with China, Russia, Turkey and the countries that can work on the principle of mutual interest for the two countries, given that most of these countries do not interfere in the internal affairs of Sudan, contrary to the American and European models, which base all their calculations on interference in the domestic affairs of other countries and do not give priority to the economic interests and common benefits between the two countries.