NAIROBI: The leaders of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia met for a three-way summit in Asmara on Thursday against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the Horn of Africa region. Concerns about security and stability in the volatile area have mounted since Ethiopia in January signed a controversial deal with the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland, giving it long-sought access to the sea. The maritime agreement infuriated Mogadishu and highlighted regional rivalries as relations soured between Ethiopia and neighboring Somalia as well as Egypt.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia met in Asmara, according to a post by Mohamud’s office on X accompanied by pictures of the three leaders. Eritrea’s information ministry had said in an earlier post that the summit would focus on “bolstering the ties between the three countries as well as matters of regional security and stability”. Mohamud, who has already visited Eritrea several times, held separate talks with Isaias shortly after his arrival late Wednesday, the ministry said.

They discussed the need to bolster cooperation “in the heavy tasks of the maintenance of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, and unity of Somalia; which remains a prerequisite for its development against the backdrop of enormous challenges in the past two decades”, it added. Sisi — whose government is siding with Somalia in its standoff with Ethiopia — flew in on Thursday and was also due to have held talks with Isaias before the summit. It is his first visit to Asmara although Isaias has visited Egypt on several occasions.

‘Assault on sovereignty’

The memorandum of understanding between Addis Ababa and Somaliland would see Ethiopia, one of the biggest landlocked countries in the world, lease a stretch of coastline from Somaliland for a naval base and port. But Mogadishu — which like the rest of the international community refuses to recognize Somaliland’s 1991 declaration of independence — has described it as an assault on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Somalia reacted by growing closer to Ethiopian rival Egypt, the two countries signing a major military deal in August and Cairo pledging troops for a new African Union mission against the Al-Shabaab jihadist group. Cairo has also long been at odds with Addis Ababa, particularly over the vast Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile which it says threatens its water supply.

Sisi’s office said his visit would focus on building relations with Eritrea and address “efforts to establish stability and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea in a manner that supports development and serves the interests of the peoples of the region”. Relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have also been deteriorating recently, even though Eritrean troops backed Ethiopian government forces in the brutal 2020-2022 war against Tigrayan rebels. Analysts say Eritrea was not happy with the peace agreement between Addis Ababa and Asmara’s longstanding enemy the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and still has troops in parts of Tigray.

Last month Ethiopian Airlines said it was suspending flights to Asmara because of “difficult” operating conditions. Dubbed the “North Korea” of Africa, Eritrea has been ruled with an iron fist by Isaias since it formally declared independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after three decades of war. Subsequent border disputes blew up into a war between 1998-2000, but two decades later the two countries reached a rapprochement which earned Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the Nobel Peace Prize. — AFP