CAIRO — Agricultural investments are the name of the game in Sudan now that the United States has lifted long-term economic sanctions against the Khartoum government, but Cairo is worried that Sudanese growth will negatively affect Egypt's water supply. Being free of the sanctions will help Sudan "facilitate banking procedures that constituted a major challenge for investors,” Sudanese State Minister for Investment Osama Faisal told al-Hadath Oct. 7. Agriculture, the main economic sector in Sudan, stands to gain in particular from new investment inflows and the growing global demand for food. 

Twenty years ago, in 1997, the United States imposed sanctions on Sudan over concerns that the government was harboring terrorist groups, in particular al-Qaeda, and amid accusations of genocide in the Darfur region. In lifting the sanctions on Oct. 6, the United States cited Sudan’s improved counterterrorism and humanitarian efforts and its commitment to cut military ties to North Korea, with which Khartoum is thought not to have official, diplomatic relations. Washington, however, still considers Sudan to be a state sponsor of terrorism, a designation that carries restrictions on aid and weapon sales.

Sudan's ambitions to expand land and water investments have raised concerns in Cairo that related projects will increase the country's use of Nile River water, cutting into Egypt's supply. Egypt and Sudan share the Nile's water in accordance with a 1959 agreement. Under it, Egypt's allotment is 55.5 billion cubic meters a year to Sudan's 18.5 billion cubic meters.

An Egyptian official in the Water and Irrigation Ministry's Nile River water department told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “There are several mechanisms to make sure that Sudan only withdraws its share of water from the Nile. We can measure and monitor the water levels in the Nile River through the Egyptian irrigation mission in Sudan. We can also rely on a coordination mechanism adopted by the Permanent Joint Technical Committee between Egypt and Sudan for the distribution of water quotas.”