Egypt's Sisi Hosts Rare Horn of Africa Summit as Sudan Weighs Austerity and Eritrea Pleads for UN Help
Four East African leaders met in Egypt to tackle rising tensions, while Sudan's government debated spending cuts and Eritrea asked the UN to intervene in its standoff with Ethiopia.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi hosted a rare summit of four East African leaders in the city of El Alamein on Sunday, October 4, to address rising tensions and unresolved conflicts in the Horn of Africa [260561]. He was joined by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, and the head of Sudan's Transitional Council [260561]. The meeting focused on the main challenges facing the region, where geopolitical rivalries and internal conflicts continue to destabilize the area [260561].
On the sidelines of the summit, Afwerki and Mohamud held extensive talks on bilateral relations and other issues of vital importance to both countries [255743].
The gathering came as Eritrea asked the United Nations to intervene in its standoff with Ethiopia. The two neighboring countries have accused each other of starting a war over Tigray, and Ethiopia says Eritrea is backing rebels in the region [259928]. Ethiopian federal forces have also taken full control of Mekelle, the regional capital held by Tigray rebels, according to a local journalist [256309]. The renewed fighting has exposed how fragile the November 2022 Pretoria agreement, which ended the war between Ethiopia's federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), remains [258953].
In Khartoum, Prime Minister Dr. Kamil Idris called an emergency meeting with members of the Government of Hope on Sunday, following the close of the three-day Strategic Hope Forum [260574]. The meeting brought together ministers, state ministers, and several undersecretaries. At the center of the talks was an austerity plan to cut public spending and ease cost-of-living burdens on Sudanese citizens [260574]. Further details of the plan were not immediately available [260574].
Separately, Libya hosted a meeting of African leaders on Saturday to discuss reform of the United Nations Security Council [259888]. The talks focused on the Council's structure. Africa currently has no permanent seat on the body, despite representing more than a quarter of UN member states [259888]. The Security Council holds the power to impose sanctions and authorize military action, and its five permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom — hold veto power over its decisions [259888]. African nations have long called for greater representation, and the meeting in Libya marks the latest push for change [259888].