China’s Horn of Africa Initiative: Fostering or Fragmenting Peace?
Megatrends Working Paper 2022 01, 14.10.2022, 12 Seitendoi:10.18449/2022MTA-WP01
Security cooperation has become vital for protecting China’s interests and investments in Africa, especially in the geopolitically important Horn of Africa (HoA). Now, it recently launched the ‘Initiative of Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa’ and appointed its first special envoy for the region. Both steps suggest that China seeks to become a more prominent development and security provider in the region. As the EU and Germany currently re-evaluate their relations with Beijing as much as with African partner countries, questions arise about the substance of the HoA initiative and what the consequences for peace and security in the region could be.

On March 6, 2021, China and Ethiopia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing security safeguarding measures for BRI projects (BRI) in Ethiopia.
© picture alliance / Xinhua News Agency | Michael Tewelde