Name? Kamel el-Wazir
Westphalian identity? Egyptian
Age? mid-60s?
Why is he in the news? As Egypt’s Transport Minister, Wazir was eager to announce a number of new road projects including a Cairo-Cape Town road that would cross through Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.
Why do we care? A pan-African highway of this scale would (theoretically) lead to greater economic, political and social connectivity among African nations. That said, it would also require a certain level of political and economic cooperation to be built in the first place; not exactly the case for many of the nations involved (we’re looking at you Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan).
Why should you care? Wazir said it best: “the road projects with neighbouring countries aim to achieve sustainable development, promote trade exchange with Egypt’s neighbours, and enhance access of the Egyptian exports to the Arab and African markets.” Sustainable development and a rising Egypt in MENA, as well as the rest of the African continent, are pretty important with regard to stability so on our How much should you care scale this gets a 6/10.
Who else cares? Xi Jinping. While the Cairo-Cape Town road is being co-funded by the African Development Bank, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, there is no doubt that Xi will still play a part in its creation and incorporation into the Belt and Road initiative. Sisi himself has already emphasized the importance of continuing Egypt’s partnership with the BRI in order to improve the living standards of African peoples.
Any further comments? Yesterday we discussed a potential new ‘water war’ in Asia, however, there is a much more lively water war between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. These tensions over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam could easily hinder efforts to complete the mega road project. Or alternatively, Wazir and Sisi could use the transport projects as negotiating points in the debate over the dam.
