Sudan lost $7 billion due to closed border with South Sudan

Sudan lost around $7 billion due to discontinued border trade with South Sudan since 2011, reported the Sudan tribune.

"Sudan has been significantly affected by border closure with South Sudan and cessation of trade between both countries," Xinhua cited Sudan's Foreign Affairs Minister Kamal-Eddin Ismail, as saying on Tuesday.

"Sudan lost seven billion dollars due to suspended border trade with South Sudan," he said.

Sudan closed its border with South Sudan in June 2011, as Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/ northern sector rebelled in Sudan's South Kordofan State, along the border with the South.

Khartoum accused Juba of sheltering SPLM/northern sector rebels, in addition to providing them with logistical support via the shared border.

Sudan and South Sudan reiterated their joint commitment on Sunday to their comprehensive cooperation agreement signed in September 2012, in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, under the patronage of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development in Africa (IGAD).

The agreement includes terms of understandings relating to security, citizens' status, border and economic issues as well as oil and trade-related topics.

However, the signed agreement did not address Abyei and border demarcation.

The border issue is the biggest obstacle to the settlement of differences between Sudan and South Sudan, revolving around five border areas: Abyei, Dabatal-Fakhar, Jabel Al-Migainis, Samaha and Kafia Kanji.