Egypt, South Sudan sign cooperation deal in river transport

CAIRO – 12 December 2022: The Egyptian Ministry of Transport and River Transport Authority in the Republic of South Sudan signed a cooperation agreement in the field of river transport, according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry on Monday.

The signing took place during the  first ministerial meeting on the preparation of feasibility studies of the second phase of the Vic-Med Project, aimed at linking Lake Victoria with the Mediterranean through a maritime route.

The meeting comprises the transport ministers of Nile Basin countries, COMESA member states, and the AU Commission on Infrastructure and Energy Development.

The minister underlined that the planned maritime route, along with highways and railways, will be the backbone of regional transportation in the future.

Egypt also aims to revive the Cairo-Cape Town Road plan, which was proposed by Prime Minister of Cape Colony Cecil Rhodes in 1890s. The road would be extended on 10,300 kilometers, starting from Alexandria Port on the Mediterranean Sea then Cairo, Sudan, Southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and finally South Africa.

Moreover, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has ratified a study to construct a land road between Egypt and Chad through Sudan, announced Egyptian Minister of Transport, Kamel Al-Wazir on Monday,

He added that an Egyptian-Sudanese committee has been formed to survey the land and determine the land route of the road, to reach the rest of the West African countries.