Askar and Mamadou
The Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Osama Askar, met in Cairo on June 26 with his counterpart from the Central African Republic, General Zéphirin Mamadou, who traveled to the Egyptian capital heading a large delegation of military representatives.
The meeting took place at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Defense, where General Mamadou and his delegation were welcomed with the highest military honors, thus attaching special significance to the visit, which is part of Egypt’s attempts to strengthen regional ties in order to ensure the complex security strategy affecting the country.
The meeting was organized at Egypt’s invitation and aimed at exploring the possibility of strengthening military cooperation between the two countries while jointly assessing regional security dynamics.
Details of the meeting were not disclosed, although a press release from the Egyptian Defense Ministry specifically referred to the possibility of an immediate agreement to support the training of Central African forces.
Prominent among the regional security issues of common interest to Egypt and the Central African Republic is undoubtedly the ongoing crisis in Sudan, where the conflict brought about by the clash between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by General al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Dagalo has not only resulted in severe local instability and a humanitarian crisis of vast proportions but has also begun to affect neighboring countries affected by refugee flows and the presence of some groups involved in the conflict.
In fact, the Central African Republic has long denounced the presence of Sudanese armed groups on its territory, where they seek refuge in order to manage their logistics and operational capacity away from the conflict, nevertheless leading to dangerous instability in the areas of their presence. On several occasions, Sudanese SAF air forces have carried out raids along the border line between the two countries, with the intent to strike these formations, leading to an increasing flow of refugees in the direction of the Central African Republic and risking expanding tension within the neighboring country’s borders.
The prospects of a stalemate in the conflict, with RSF forces in near total control of the regional state of Darfur, has led to the real possibility of a crystallization of the crisis and consequently the possibility of its expansion to neighboring areas, alarming both the Central African Republic and Egypt.
Both countries fear an increase in migratory flows both northward and westward, while the Central African Republic believes that part of its territory could become an operations center for militia fighting in Sudan, destabilizing an area already severely tested by the concomitant dynamics of local politics. For Egypt, moreover, the possible success of the RSF forces could result in the loss of an important regional ally, the government headed by General al-Burhan, compromising, among other things, the management of the complex relationship with Ethiopia, burdened by the unresolved issue of the GERD dam, which Cairo regards as tantamount to an existential threat to Egyptian interests.
For the Central African Republic, on the other hand, the main element of fear related to developments in the war in Sudan relates to the country’s northeastern Vakaga region bordering Darfur, where more than 10,000 refugees have found refuge according to the UN, in an attempt to escape ethnic violence and ongoing fighting. The Korsi refugee camp area, not far from the town of Birao, is the main center for Sudanese refugees in the Central African Republic, where the World Food Program manages more than 6,500 refugees but where the humanitarian organization’s activities are systematically opposed by several armed militias dedicated to looting supplies.
The government of the Central African Republic seeks to support the country’s internal peace process, aimed primarily at disarming the main rebel groups, but several formations continue to operate by exploiting mainly ethnic conflicts between the settled and nomadic communities, making the government’s efforts difficult.
The conflict in Sudan, for this reason, is seen as a possible dangerous multiplier of instability, fueling arms trafficking, the illicit management of humanitarian aid and the possible welding of the demands of some Sudanese armed formations with local Central African ones, leading to the continuation of instability throughout the eastern region of the country.
Similarly, this January, South Sudan government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Egypt to enhance military cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement followed a visit of South Sudanese Minister of Defense and Federal Affairs, Chol Thon Balok to Egypt for the Egyptian Defense Expose Summit in 2023.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council has taken a step towards relaxing the arms embargo imposed on the Central African Republic (CAR), granting permission for weaponry to be supplied to government forces. However, despite this decision, the CAR government expressed its dissatisfaction, branding the move an “affront.”
The Security Council acknowledged that the situation within the country “continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region.” In recognition of this, the arms embargo that has been in place since the civil war in 2013 was extended until July 31, 2024.
This extension does come with a notable alteration: the embargo will no longer encompass the “supply, sale, or transfer of arms and related materiel and the provision of assistance, advice, and training to the CAR security forces.”