Building strong relations with high-income countries partly contributes to the growth in most developing countries. This is because low-income states mostly rely on aid from the developed countries. For instance, since the novel virus has crippled economies, contributed to food insecurity, unemployment, and so on, help from abroad is mandatory.
The Visit to Sudan
On Thursday, Britain’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, met with Sudanese officials at the country’s capital to discuss bilateral relations and some of its problems. During most of the meeting, they discussed the tensions which were ongoing at the border between Sudan and Ethiopia.
The situation along the border had worsened. Recently, Sudanese forces and Ethiopian militia had engaged in a violent clash. And since the conflicts were surging, there were possibilities of a military conflict from both countries in the future. Mr. Raab, head of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Abdalla Hamdok, the Prime Minister, and Omar Qamar al-Din, the country’s acting foreign minister, were all in attendance during the meeting.
During the meeting, Raab also addressed the ongoing water dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. The conflict was steered by Ethiopia’s decision to build a controversial dam in the Blue Nile. More so, Egyptians were concerned as the Blue Nile is the main tributary of River Nile, contributing to a better part of their country’s water supply. Sudan and Egypt warry that the dam might consume a better amount of the water in the River and then they won’t have an adequate water supply.
Meanwhile, the situation in Sudan is quite critical. The State has not recovered since the ousting of former President al-Bashir, followed by unending violence episodes. Even though a military-civilian government is currently in power, the country is still in an unstable state.
Mr. Raab announced that the United Kingdom was contributing 40 million pounds to the Sudan Family Support Program, which will provide financial aid to about 1.6 million people.
The Visit to Kenya
Although Kenya might not be in a critical situation like Sudan, it still depends on bilateral relations to boost its growth. Mr. Raab had paid a visit to Kenya the previous day before going to Sudan. He stated that his government was ready to help Kenya combat climate change, insurgencies and supply adequate Coronavirus vaccines to Kenya and other developing countries.
While speaking in a joint news conference with Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Raychelle Omamo, Mr. Raab stated that Britain was looking to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines to developing countries. The support would come in handy as most developing nations did not have access to the vaccines despite the resurgence of covid. While replying to Mr. Raab, Omamo said that Kenya was more than glad to work with the United Kingdom on health and education. While talking about education, Mrs. Omamo stressed girls’ education, which is not entirely remarkable in most countries’ most remote parts. I.e., the rate of girl children dropping out of school had increased.
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