Africa-Press – Eritrea. During the second half of 2022, the Horn of Africa region witnessed an important political movement, as Eritrea witnessed the visits of a number of heads of officials and envoys, and a number of government envoys visited a number of countries and participated in many regional and international events.
This comes within the framework of the keenness of the leaders of the region and their efforts aimed at establishing regional and international peace and security, stemming from their conviction that stability and peace cannot be achieved for any country in isolation from regional and international peace and stability.
On top of this political movement came the visits of the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, His Excellency President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, to Eritrea, in the months of July (9-12) and November (10-12), during which he held lengthy and successful talks with His Excellency President Isaias Afwerki that lasted for days, focused on strengthening Bilateral relations The talks also dealt with developments at the level of the Horn of Africa and regional and international situations.
In the first visit, President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud witnessed the graduation of 5,000 ground forces from his soldiers, and in the second he witnessed the high training of the Somali Navy at the Eritrean Naval Forces Center in naval operations, naval commandos and all the arts of naval operations. The training included the Somali special forces that received qualitative training.
He also reviewed the progress of the training of the Somali forces in the College of Civil Aviation, so that all these forces of all kinds would be the nucleus for rebuilding and forming the Somali National Army, to contribute to the restoration of the central government’s prestige, the continuation of the Somali reconciliations and the restoration of the cohesion of the Somali society that was damaged by the collapse of the unified Somali state.
As a result of the fall of the regime of President Muhammad Siad Barre, and thus the Somali society recovers from the dangers, conflicts and disintegration that slipped into it, whether due to external interference or internal factors as a result of the accumulations and grievances that occurred in the defunct era.
And the Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, announced on 12/19/2022 that the Somali soldiers who are training in Eritrea will start returning to their country before the end of December.
On the twenty-second of December, the Somali Ministry of Information issued a press statement, in which it thanked the Eritrean government for hosting the large number of Somali forces, and for the support and high training it provided in various types of weapons for the 5,000-strong trainees of the Somali forces, and announced that these Somali forces that have completed Their training has begun to return them since December 21 and the process of returning them all to Somalia will continue in the coming weeks.
This cooperation between Somalia and Eritrea came in implementation of the document of the general declaration of joint cooperation between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, which was signed by the leaders in September 2018 in Asmara.
The President of the Republic of Kenya, William Ruto, also visited the country on the ninth and tenth of December, during which he discussed with President Isaias Afwerki bilateral relations and ways to develop them and push them towards broader horizons in order to serve peace, stability, cooperation and coordination among the countries of the Horn of Africa, and in a way that contributes to laying the foundations for peace and stability at the level.
regional, as well as at the level of the African continent. At the end of the talks, Presidents Isaias Afwerki and William Ruto agreed to work to strengthen the Eritrean-Kenyan bilateral relations to serve the ties of the two peoples and regional cooperation.
They agreed to abolish entry visa requirements for citizens of the two countries during travel to and from the two countries and to enhance cooperation in the African Union.
They also agreed to work and joint consultation for the regional partnership and the establishment of peace, security and development in the Horn of Africa.
Presidents Isaias Afwerki and William Ruto stressed taking regional initiatives to solve the current challenges, recognizing the importance of developing regional trade and investment, as they are members of COMESA.
Before that, President Ruto paid a visit to Ethiopia on the sixth of October 2022, during which he discussed with the Ethiopian leadership economic relations and the promotion of investments, as both Kenya and Ethiopia represent the two largest economies in the region, and economic cooperation between them is an important factor for both countries, so the visit witnessed discussions They discussed increasing trade exchange and promoting Kenyan investments in Ethiopia, especially in the field of technology and communications.
In this context, the Kenyan president inaugurated the branch of the Kenyan telecommunications company SfaraiCom for mobile services in Ethiopia, where the Kenyan government owns 35% of its shares.
In addition to reassurance about the functioning of the electricity transmission line between the two countries, which is 1,000 kilometers long, which is an important means of linking East Africa, which in turn constitutes the nucleus of regional integration and prosperity.
In addition, Kenya had recently hosted talks between the federal government and the People’s Liberation Front for the Liberation of Tigray to complete what was agreed upon in South Africa, aimed at ending the violence and restoring the Ethiopian federal government to its role as a central government, and extending its powers over the entire Ethiopian sovereign territory.
On Kenya’s relations with Somalia, the two countries reached in mid-July a political and trade agreement that included the return of airlines to work again in Somalia, the opening of land borders to enhance transit trade and facilitate the entry procedures for Somalis to Kenya, in addition to exporting fish to and from Kenya and strengthening efforts to combat terrorism, especially Al-Shabaab terrorist movement, which constitutes a common security challenge, knowing that Kenya is participating with forces in the African peacekeeping force in Somalia.
With regard to Ethiopian relations with Sudan, it was recently agreed that Sudan and Ethiopia would work to resolve border problems as well as an understanding on the issue of the Renaissance Dam in the interest of the two countries, in a meeting between the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ethiopian Foreign Minister with both the President of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council and his deputy in Khartoum .
With regard to the Sudanese-Eritrean relations, they are normal relations and there is communication between officials between the two countries, whether through diplomatic channels or direct meetings between officials in the two countries.
State governors and advisors, where he met President Isaias Afwerki, and discussed with him ways for his government to benefit from Eritrea’s experiences in a number of areas of common interest.
In the context of bilateral relations, President William Ruto visited South Sudan, on the third of December, where he held bilateral talks with President Salva Kiir.
Among the common interests are the LAPSET project, a pioneering regional project aimed at providing transportation and logistics infrastructure between Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan, connecting 160 million people in the three countries.
And since peace and security are prerequisites for economic development and growth and the promotion of economic integration and development, the security system in the region has worked on coordination and exchange of information to support the efforts of the countries of the region in combating terrorism and all illegal and illegal operations, in addition to being working within the framework of East Africa.
In this context, the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, witnessed the first week of December, the 24th session of the General Assembly of the East African Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO), which discussed ways to enhance the capabilities of law enforcement agencies in order to improve regional and international
cooperation and joint police cooperation to prevent possible crimes across borders. and terrorist acts, arms smuggling, drug and child trafficking, and organized crime along the borders.
All these efforts and endeavors bode well, that if they proceed according to what was agreed upon by the leaders of the Horn of Africa, then this bodes well, as it indicates that the region has benefited from its previous experiences, and bid farewell to the era of wars and conflicts, to be preoccupied with what it can offer to man, by benefiting from the location The region occupies an important strategic location, as it overlooks the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea, and is rich in arable land and large livestock, and possesses the most important rivers and abundant water, in addition to the Renaissance Dam and the rest of the dams that contribute greatly to encouraging investment, whether from within The region or foreign investment, in a way that absorbs the energies of youth and provides great job opportunities for youth, and encourages investment in competencies and human cadres, and thus limiting the migration of African brains and competencies abroad.
Together, and by benefiting from the experiences in the region, the Ethiopians, Kenyans, Somalis, Sudanese and South Sudanese each contribute with their distinctive experiences and expertise.
It is also possible to transfer the experience of Eritrea in the reconstruction of what was destroyed by the war and its launch of a comprehensive national reconstruction program with the availability of national capabilities, and thus the establishment of collective self-reliance in coordination Potential between Member States, and coordination of policies and integration of programs among Member States, to advance joint development programs in all fields and economic activity, in order to raise the living standards of individuals and encourage relations between Member States.
And thus activating the common market between it and the rest of the world, in a way that encourages the creation of an attractive climate for domestic and foreign investment.
If the intentions are true, and things go as desired by the leaders and leaders of the region and the aspirations of its people, and if nothing happens that impedes the progress of the peace endeavors, then by coordinating resources and wealth among the countries of the region, we will have prepared a mechanism for building peace and opened a wide field to facilitate the movement of people and goods and what complements them in terms of customs exemptions and the rest of the economic laws Commercial, bank transfers and other requirements that enhance cooperation and coordination of the exploitation of resources in order to reach integration between the countries of the Horn of Africa and then extend this and interrelate with the rest of the countries of eastern and southeastern Africa in implementation of the goals of COMESA, which flow into the final outcome for the well-being of the population of that important African assembly ( 21 of the 54 countries).
We hope that we will lay the foundation for a bright future for African generations to enjoy, and that the COMESA and Africa countries will be able to provide job opportunities for African youth, and occupy them by focusing on the development of their country and continent instead of migrating towards the unknown in a journey fraught with dangers, and we hope to see the time when Africa has been able to shake off It has the dust of the stigma attached to it caused by colonialism as a home to diseases, poverty, desertification and famine, and we turn it into a reverse migration towards Africa, which is full of all resources, goods, expertise, investment and tourism, and we always hope to achieve the best with every sun that shines.
For More News And Analysis About Eritrea Follow Africa-Press
