CAIRO, Egypt

Egypt on Thursday announced the establishment of two logistics zones to address the truck congestion at the Arqin and Qustul land crossings with Sudan.

“Based on coordination between the Egyptian Transport Ministry and Aswan province, two mini-logistics zones were implemented in Wadi Karkar and the city of Abu Simbel to process Egyptian vehicles heading to Sudan,” said the Egyptian General Authority for Land and Dry Ports, affiliated with the Transport Ministry.

The authority said in a statement that the “slow” completion of procedures at corresponding Sudanese crossings leads to the congestion at the Arqin and Qustul land crossings.

The overcrowding is also caused by the mismatch in working hours, as Egyptian ports operate 24 hours a day, while the Sudanese counterparts only work 4-5 hours a day, it added.

For months, the border crossings between the two countries have been suffering from a crisis of congestion of trucks entering Sudan.

The Sudanese side has not yet announced any measures corresponding to the steps taken by the Egyptian side to speed up the entry and exit of Egyptian trucks across the border.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi