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China’s Uphill Battle Fostering Stability in the Horn of Africa

By Lukas Fiala On Monday and Tuesday this week, Ethiopia hosted a China-sponsored Horn of Africa Peace Governance and Development conference – the first of its kind. Taking place at the China-financed African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, the event signalled ...

China’s Horn of Africa Conference Reveals the Limits of Mediation Role

The China-led peace conference for the Horn of Africa was both a big step for China and a bit of a damp squib. The conference, which concluded on Tuesday, was China’s most prominent attempt at promoting its version of developmental peace in Africa since its mediation efforts in South Sudan ...

China Kicks Off HoA Conference With Offer to Mediate Regional Conflicts

China's Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (HoA), Xue Bing, opened a two-day peace conference in Addis Ababa on Monday with an unexpected offer that he would personally make himself available to mediate some of the conflicts currently roiling the region. “I ...

China’s Top Diplomats for MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa Are Both Touring the Continent

A flurry of high-level Chinese diplomacy is underway in Africa in the run-up to next week's Horn of Africa conference that Beijing is co-hosting with the Ethiopian government. On Sunday, Wang Di, China's top diplomat for the Middle East and North ...

China’s Special Envoy For the Horn of Africa Makes Final Preparations Ahead of Next Week’s Peace Conference

China's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa met last week with diplomatic representatives from the eight Horn of Africa countries to go over details ahead of next Monday's first-ever Chinese-sponsored HoA peace conference that it's co-hosting with the Ethiopian government. Per Chinese diplomatic protocol, ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The G20 Summit and the Half-Life of a Joke

When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: China, For the First Time, Will Convene A Horn of Africa (HoA) Conference

China, for the first time, will convene a Horn of Africa (HoA) conference between June 20th and 22nd in Addis Ababa.  China's new Special Envoy for HoA, Xue Bing, announced during a tour in March that Beijing would organize such a conference in the first half of the ...