Somalia, Somaliland, Puntland, Djibouti and Ethiopia — regional politics, conflict and development.
On July 19, President Donald Trump’s top Africa adviser, Massad Boulos, held a series of talks in Cairo with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia. The participants framed the discussions as an effort to bolster security in the...
In early August, the top U.S. special operations commander for Africa signed a security agreement with the president of Puntland — a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Somalia — to expand the American military installation there. The deal surfaced through a short...
Former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has reportedly acknowledged that Turkey made a major strategic miscalculation by placing its political and diplomatic weight behind Somalia while overlooking Somaliland, a nation whose strategic importance has grown dramatically in recent years. Çavuşoğlu’s remarks...
A new chapter in the emerging relationship between Israel and Somaliland is already translating into lifesaving medical care, with the first delegation of Somaliland children returning home after receiving specialized cardiac treatment in Israel. The development was highlighted by Save a...
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT First Ever Somaliland Diaspora Visit to Israel D ates : 17 – 22 October 2026 | D estinations : Jerusalem · Tel Aviv · Haifa Israel-Africa Business Connect (IABC) , in joint collaboration with the Diaspora Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Somaliland, invites dedicated diaspora leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, and civil society representatives to engage in a landmark six-day program of institutional, business, and cultural exchange with Israeli counterparts. The civil society, business community and other interested stakeholders residing within the Republic of Somaliland are equally welcome to apply. Program Highlights Include: Official & Institutional Engagement: High-level dialogues with Israeli government institutions. Diaspora Leadership & Peer Exchange : Diaspora leadership and peer exchange focusing on governance, innovation, education, and modernization. Business & Economic Cooperation: Exploring investment opportunities, strategic trade partnerships, and exclusive networking sessions with Israeli business innovators and investors. Cultural & Heritage Exchange: Guided historical and sightseeing tours in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. Following the formal diplomatic ties and mutual recognition established between the governments of Somaliland and Israel, this historic visit represents a definitive step toward strengthening ties between the two peoples and building lasting partnerships. Logistics & Vetting: The full six-day program is priced at €1,370 per person (double occupancy basis). This includes hotel accommodation, daily breakfast and dinner, guided tours, official meetings, site entrance fees, and group ground transportation. Not Included: International airfare, travel insurance, lunches (approximately $20–$25 per day), airport transfers, gratuities, visa fees, and private taxi transport or personal expenses outside the arranged group itinerary. Please note that the IABC Business Forum will liaise directly with Somaliland community association committees to coordinate logistics, and all applicants will undergo strict verification as Somaliland citizens. Spaces are strictly limited. The Diaspora Department encourages the participation of highly qualified professionals and community leaders who are best positioned to advance the objectives and scope of this program – quality matters more to us than quantity. This is more than a visit, it is a statement of dialogue, economic cooperation, and people-to people connection....
President Donald Trump and self-styled Secretary of War Pete Hegseth are pushing for a post-World War II record $1.6 trillion Pentagon budget for next year, a sum so obscenely high that it is almost impossible to comprehend. The proposed $600...
The US is losing leverage in Somalia as frustration with Mogadishu threatens critical African Union support and risks strengthening Al Shabaab’s hold. In Mali, renewed US airstrikes against JNIM raise a parallel concern—whether air power alone, without a ground strategy...
Subscribe to our Lens on Sudan newsletter here . The military’s offensive in Kordofan continued this week with the capture of the strategic Jabal al-Dayer area near Rahad, building on last week’s gains that brought five towns and the Saderat Road...
Donald Trump’s foreign policy features chaotic decision-making and bombastic rhetoric. But some of his half-baked ideas could have lasting consequences, creating escalation pathways that his successors may be unwilling to close. West Africa provides a crucial case study. Trump ordered strikes...
Donald Trump’s foreign policy features chaotic decision-making and bombastic rhetoric. But some of his half-baked ideas could have lasting consequences, creating escalation pathways that his successors may be unwilling to close. West Africa provides a crucial case study. Trump ordered strikes...
After four years of a contentious peace between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, fighting broke out between the two sides on Saturday. The clashes spanned from the Humera border town with Sudan in the north to...
Galala city, Egypt, the southern exit to the Suez Canal. Credit: Unsplash/M abnodey By Maximilian Malawista UNITED NATIONS, Aug 3 2026 (IPS) As the United States and Iran continue to escalate with military strikes across both fronts, the conflict took a new turn...
Anti-FGM activists protests outside the National Assembly in Banjul, The Gambia, on 18 March 2024, as lawmakers discuss a bill seeking to lift the ban on FGM. Credit: by Muhamadou Bittaye/AFP By Inés M. Pousadela MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Aug 3 2026 (IPS) Last August,...
Iran and Russia have come to realize that there can be no peace with the Collective West. Consequently, the conflicts will be fought out on the battlefield and will last a long time. The international legal order is dead, world...
Raytheon sponsors the Girl Scouts of America. BAE Systems is reading your toddlers their favorite fairytale stories. And Lockheed Martin funds children’s math and STEM festivals. This is done with great fanfare, supposedly to empower and inspire children to pursue...
In June, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Preventing External Aggression and Conflict Escalation (PEACE) in Sudan Act of 2026. In the House, the pending U.S. Engagement in Sudanese Peace Act and the RSF Terrorism Designation Act partly overlap...
The latest Ibrahim Index of African Governance indicates a broadly mixed picture on the campaign against corruption on the continent. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s 2026 Ibrahim Index of African Governance data brief on anti-corruption shows that Africa’s average anti-corruption score rose...
Refugees fleeing violence in Ethiopia's Tigray region cross the Tekeze River into Sudan in November 2020. Credit: UNHCR/Hazim Elhag By Elizabeth Tan GENEVA, Jul 27 2026 (IPS) Seventy-five years after the Refugee Convention was opened for signature on 28 July 1951, it remains...
Subscribe to our Lens on Sudan newsletter here . With Washington’s revised ceasefire initiative drawing cautious engagement from Khartoum and diplomatic activity around Sudan intensifying, much of the week’s political maneuvering both abroad and at home revolved around preparing for a...
Humanitarian support keeps families buying food, shops trading and clinics open when crisis hits, says Abdullahi Nur Osman Foreign Office figures showing that the UK will almost halve bilateral aid to Somalia by 2029 ( Report, 16 July ) come as...
In 2025, 13.5 million ‘zero-dose’ children did not receive vaccinations in their first year. More than half of these children live in fragile, conflict-affected or vulnerable countries, where immunization may be disrupted due to a number of factors. Credit: UNICEF By...
The Trump administration is doing everything it can to get rid of what it considers to be “undesirable” people. The administration has removed temporary protected status (TPS) for more than a million people from over a dozen countries. It is sending...
Somalia said that it and “international partners” killed Maalin Jinow Ibrahim, a reported co-founder of Shabaab and a member of its central shura council, in a targeted operation earlier this month. However, Al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa has yet...
The Conflict Between the TPLF and the Ethiopian Government Has the Potential to Escalate beyond the Country’s Borders Tensions between Addis Ababa and the Tigray Region are gradually mounting. Miscalculations could even trigger another large-scale war, although the parties involved may not...
As fear and fighting ease in Mogadishu, coffee shops have become catalysts for change, bringing jobs for women and creating much-needed social spaces Every morning at six, Saabiriin Hassan slips on her apron as she takes her place behind the counter...
While the Western media continues to hype Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russia as incredible military achievements that are sapping Russia’s will to fight, the reality is that Russia continues an unrelenting bombing and missile campaign that is destroying critical Ukrainian...
I recently drove to a gas station in Massachusetts to fill my tank with regular gas, the cheapest around, and, to my surprise, given what’s going on, it was only $4.59 a gallon. Okay, okay, I take back that “only” and...
Somalia’s long-running conflict has pushed thousands of people, including children, into the al-Shabaab militant group Originally published on Global Voices Members of the Al Qaeda-affiliated militant group Al Shabaab stand after giving themselves up to forces of the African Union Mission in...
A cargo vessel docked at a port facility. Credit: UNCTAD By Maximilian Malawista UNITED NATIONS, Jul 16 2026 (IPS) The full economic impact of the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz may not become clear until the second half of 2026, warns the...
In 2020, Austin Doctor wrote, “The Looming Influx of Foreign Fighters in Sub-Saharan Africa,” in which he predicted the region would see an influx of foreign fighters to aid Islamist extremist groups. Six years later, we asked Austin to revisit...
Aerial view of the Port of Dubai Emirate located in Jebel Ali district, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Credit: WikiMedia/Imre Solt By Maximilian Malawista UNITED NATIONS, Jul 14 2026 (IPS) Despite the importance of international trade as an engine for economic growth and development,...
The US Treasury Secretary has outlined his vision for the United States in the world, where economic coercion is to be castigated unless the US itself is the one doing the coercing. Marco Carnelos is a former Italian diplomat. He has...
In early July, an Iranian civilian aircraft landed in Houthi-controlled Sana’a, breaching a Saudi air blockade in place for nearly a decade. Then, as the Saudi-led coalition publicly threatened strikes of "unprecedented force" against targets such as Hodeidah port and Sana’a...
The United States is on pace for another record year of military strikes in Somalia in 2026. At least 74 strikes have been carried out so far, the majority targeting Al Qaeda’s Shabaab—a clear shift from 2025, when the US...
Numerous recent pirate attacks, especially the hijacking of three merchant vessels off the Horn of Africa, are a stark reminder that the conditions for resurgence can return quickly.It took years of sustained, coordinated effort by multinational naval coalitions, the shipping...
When a remote east African city was being shelled by Somaliland soldiers three years ago, a German academic became an unlikely messenger for the beleaguered inhabitants of Las Anod. Dr Markus Hoehne, an anthropologist then at Leipzig University, spoke Somali and...
UN Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (right). They have called for the universal abolition of the death penalty. Credit: UN Photo/Violaine Martin By Shuli Wong UNITED NATIONS, Jul 3 2026 (IPS) While the movement...
A former Marine Corps officer, military adviser to the Élysée, and long-standing observer of Franco-African relations, Colonel Peer De Jong has co-authored Out of Africa with Frédéric Lejeal. The conclusion is clear: in the space of three years, France has...
Half a decade later and I still remember his voice. A young man lies on the ground, begging, pleading, screaming as another man, swinging a machete, forces him to place his right arm on a small wooden bench. The attacker...
By: Majid Maqbool The killing and maiming of children globally has increased to alarming levels, particularly in the murderous struggle between Israel and its foes, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar and Somalia as out-of-control conflicts continue on the boil,...
By James Alix Michel VICTORIA, Seychelles, Jun 29 2026 (IPS) On the night of 29 June 1976, just before midnight, I stood among my fellow Seychellois at the heart of a moment that would change our history forever. James Alix Michel We...
The soccer supremo has been criticised for interfering in the award of tournaments to Morocco and Saudi Arabia, as well as not banning Israel from international competition Daniel Tester is a news journalist focussed on the Middle East North Africa region Cross-posted...
The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt met in Cairo this week to discuss regional affairs in the wake of the Iran war. Their discussions ranged from security in the Gulf to developments in Lebanon and the...
Sentencing of 27-year-old Sadia Moalim Ali condemned by former president and prime ministers as well as rights groups A rickshaw driver in Somalia has been sentenced to three years in prison for comments she made on social media, in a case...
Hassan Aweys, the second-in-command of the Islamic Courts, was a longstanding target of the United States. ( Picture: African Arguments ) 2026 brings a seminal anniversary to the history of Somalia and East Africa, but also an important and overlooked one...
The workers who are moderating the content on social media are working in conditions of extreme labour exploitation. Based on detailed survey evidence with content moderators in Nairobi, Kenya, this report reveals some of the major problems these workers faces. Kings...
The World Cup has highlighted the problems of hyper-commercialisation and sportswashing in football, but the problems ultimately run much deeper than FIFA. Alessio Giussani is the editor-in-chief of the Green European Journal . Cas Mudde is a Dutch professor of political science...
Sephora*, an 18-year-old mother of two, holds her baby girl at the Karibuni wa Mama Clinic supported by SOFEPADI in Bunia, Ituri province, DR Congo, on 25 November 2025. Originally from a remote village, she fled when armed clashes erupted...
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