After the oil deal, Sudan and South Sudan must show the political courage to resolve the remaining issues.

The agreement reached by Sudan and South Sudan to end a long oil dispute that led to huge economic consequences and prompted fears of war is the best thing to happen to relations between the two countries since South Sudan was formed more than a year ago. The landlocked South Sudan has to rely on Khartoum to export its oil because the pipeline for transporting the oil is running through Sudan. A dispute over the transit fee which Khartoum has demanded has bedeviled relations between the two countries. Juba said the fee which Khartoum was asking was astronomically high, which it refused to pay, while Khartoum stuck to its stance. Both sides now have agreed on the transit fee, which paves the way for the resumption of oil production in South Sudan that was suspended in January this year after Sudan confiscated $ 815m worth of South Sudanese crude, which it claimed was in lieu of unpaid fees.

The agreement between the two was announced by lead negotiator and former South African president Thabo Mbeki at a meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.”The two parties have agreed on all of the financial arrangements regarding oil. We now have to agree on when the oil companies should prepare for resumption of production and export,” Mbeki said.

The deal offers both sides an equal opportunity to emerge from the extreme economic stress they are experiencing.

Relations between Khartoum and Juba had been sinking to new lows and the hostilities have cost both countries heavily, especially in economic terms. Political stability and security are prerequisites for economic progress and though both sides have been aware that they are locked in a dangerous situation, they were not ready for a compromise, until international pressure forced them to sit across the negotiation table. In May, the United Nations threatened sanctions unless the two sides ceased hostilities and withdrew forces from the disputed Abyei border region and agree on oil fees in three months.

Oil is not the only source of rivalry between the two sides, but an agreement on this contentious issue can pave the way for solutions in other areas. Mbeki has said that the final status of Abyei will be addressed next month at a summit meeting of the two presidents. The talks on Abyei are expected to be more complex but the role of African Union as a peace broker can help both sides to reach a solution.

Juba and Khartoum should show the political courage to overcome the remaining issues. And the international community, especially the African Union, must show the determination to force the two sides to live peacefully.