Egypt, Somalia and Eritrea pledged to co-operate to prevent interference in the affairs of any state in the Horn of Africa, and to bring peace to the tumultuous region, after leaders of the three countries met in the Eritrean capital on Thursday.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi arrived in Asmara on Thursday where he met Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who had arrived on Wednesday night, Eritrea's Information Ministry said in a post on X. The pair were hosted by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.
According to a joint statement issued after Mr El Sisi returned to Cairo on Thursday evening, the three leaders discussed the Sudan civil war, the situation of Somalia's fight against the Al Shabab terrorist insurgency, in addition to security co-operation in the Red Sea and mechanisms for increased diplomatic ties.
Somalia welcomed Eritrea and Egypt's efforts to support stability and strengthen the Somaili government, the statement said, adding that the three leaders agreed to establish a joint foreign ministers' committee to promote strategic co-operation.
A spokesman said earlier on Thursday that Mr El Sisi's visit was at Mr Afwerki's invitation and would “explore different means of boosting bilateral relations in a number of sectors in addition to discussing the current situation in the Horn of Africa and how to bring peace and security to it”.
The tripartite summit comes during heightened turmoil in the Horn of Africa amid multiple wars and disputes that have changed the region’s dynamics significantly.
Mr El Sisi's visit also comes after Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty and the head of its General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel visited Asmara on September 14 where they held meetings with Mr Afwerki on Red Sea security among other things.
Tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia, already high over the latter’s construction of a megadam on the Blue Nile, have intensified following the signing on August 14 of a defence pact between Egypt and Somalia, under which Cairo has delivered two arms shipments to Mogadishu.
Egypt then began conducting talks with Eritrea in September to explore increased military and intelligence ties, Egyptian former assistant foreign minister Rakha Ahmed Hassan told The National.
The pact with Somalia and the potential deal with Eritrea are part of increased efforts by Egypt to curry favour in the Horn of Africa in its standoff with Ethiopia. Eritrea and Ethiopia have had a historically fraught relationship, which was described by the United States Institute of Peace as more akin to a rivalry in a 2023 report.
A 2018 peace agreement between the neighbouring countries eased tensions temporarily and paved the way for Eritrea’s collaboration with the Ethiopian government's war against the main armed group in the Tigray region. However, Eritrea is unhappy with the peace agreement Ethiopia signed with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in 2022, according to report last month by the Institute for the Study of War. The agreement left the TPLF intact, contrary to Eritrea's goal of dismantling the group, which it views as a serious threat to its national security.
Somalia’s relations with Ethiopia worsened over the January signing of a memorandum of understanding between Addis Ababa and the government of Somaliland, a region of Somalia which has harboured separatist ambitions since the 1990s. In exchange for Ethiopia’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent state, the landlocked country would receive 20km of Somalia’s Red Sea coast to build a military base and increase trade.
The contentious move pushed Mogadishu closer to Cairo and led to a warning from Somalia's National Security Adviser Hussein Sheikh Ali in June that the government would expel any Ethiopian troops stationed in Somalia after the expiration of an African Union peacekeeping mission supplied to Mogadishu in its continuing struggle with Al Shabab, an Al Qaeda-affiliated insurgency.
The peacekeeping mission was renewed in June and for the first time, Egypt pledged to provide troops in a letter sent to the African Union at the time, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
“Egypt’s involvement in the AU mission reflects growing ties between Egypt and Somalia since the current [Federal Government of Somalia] administration took office in 2022 and likely aims to strengthen Egypt’s position vis-a-vis Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa,” the institute's report said.
Egypt and Eritrea have maintained strong diplomatic relations since Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Egypt's diplomacy played a key role in easing tensions during the 1998 Ethiopia-Eritrea border war, the Egyptian State Information Service said on Thursday. The two nations have since co-operated on regional security issues and have enjoyed extensive trade.
