The Horn

During our season break, we will be re-running two early podcasts from our first season that new subscribers might have missed. We will be back in September with some brand new episodes.  Digital technologies are having a dramatic impact on politics. But while their influence in Western political spaces has been heavily scrutinized, little attention has been paid in Africa. Best-selling Kenyan aut...

Somalia's political crisis has reached a worrying stage. Since his election in 2017, President Farmajo has pushed to strengthen the federal government's control, fuelling infighting between the government and member states. The decision to postpone upcoming elections has inflamed these already deteriorating relations.  Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab continues to inflict violence and will likely benefit fro...

As rains swell the Blue Nile, Ethiopia has made clear its intent to soon start filling the massive dam it is building. However, it has yet to reach an agreement with its two downstream neighbours, Sudan, and Egypt. Trilateral talks resumed in early June, and while most elements have been agreed upon, two key issues remain unresolved: drought mitigation and dispute resolution. The gap to reach an a...

The "age-old story of the rise and fall of great powers", already in motion, has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. So says Abdul Mohammed, chief of staff and senior political advisor for the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel. Amid waning U.S. influence, the steady rise of China, and a new era of competition between the two, he asks, where does Africa fit in? The continent has...

Africa’s priority in fighting COVID-19 is to find the right “balance between saving lives and saving livelihoods”, based on the experience of what happened in Europe, the United States, and China, says Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the African Union body coordinating the response to the pandemic on the continent. The wave of COVID-...

Africa has been hit with a double punch. The economic fallout of COVID-19 has preceded the health crisis, resulting in job losses and endangering food supplies. The pandemic's impact on the region's tumultuous political transitions could be grave.  The international community has moved surprisingly quickly in response to the pandemic, but is it enough? EU Special Representative to the Horn of Afri...

“Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change across the world, and yet is the least responsible”. Climate change is a threat multiplier. Its ability to disrupt livelihoods, change migration patterns, and complicate political imbalances make it an increasingly significant driver of conflict.  David Mozersky, co-founder of Energy Peace Partners and a former Crisis Group project di...

“COVID-19 is not just an epidemic, but a highly complex emergency”.  The implications of the coronavirus pandemic are still unclear. But the looming global recession and direct impact of containment measures on livelihoods make this an unprecedented crisis for Africa. Furthermore, the U.S., once an important ally in times of health crises, has turned its back on the continent, especially after Pre...

We continue our COVID-19 series with a 360-degree view of perspectives on the pandemic’s impact. Five Crisis Group analysts look at the risks and opportunities in Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Sudan, as well as the profound political and economic implications of the disease. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

COVID-19 poses an enormous threat in the Horn of Africa. Beyond deadly risks to public health and hospitals, democratic systems are already affected and critical diplomatic efforts disrupted. Outbreaks in camps housing refugees and other populations displaced by conflict could be catastrophic. Kenyan diplomat Ambassador Mahboub Maalim joins Alan for this second special COVID-19 episode. They discu...

The death and disruption wrought by the coronavirus pandemic have already been felt by much of the world. With the disease now making its way across East Africa, Alan Boswell sat down with journalist April Zhu to discuss the challenges the region faces. Overstretched healthcare systems, the consequences of a global economic depression on stability, and the long-term geopolitical implications of Ch...

Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan are struggling to reach agreement over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Ethiopia, which sees the dam as a defining national development project, is ready to start filling it; Sudan, a historic ally of Egypt, covets the cheap electricity and expanded agricultural production that it promises; while Egypt remains deeply concerned about the impact it could have on the Ni...

On 22 February, South Sudan's two warring leaders, Salva Kiir and Riek Machar agreed once again to form a unity government. After several failed attempts to make peace, this deal is more important than ever. In this episode, we flip the script by bringing Crisis Group's Africa Program Director, Comfort Ero, into the studio to interview host Alan Boswell. Alan, who is Crisis Group's senior analyst...

Sudan’s transition hangs in the balance.  As the country embarks on its journey to inclusive, democratic rule, one of the most pressing issues it faces is the flailing economy. The civilian-led administration inherits a legacy of decades of ruinous economic policies, exacerbated by crippling U.S. sanctions. Crisis Group has long called on the U.S. to rescind its outdated designation of Sudan as a...

Ethiopia’s elections, scheduled for August, are set to be the first free and fair elections since 2005. But myriad challenges lie ahead, warns Will Davison, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Ethiopia and Alan’s guest on The Horn this week. When Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power, he immediately marked himself as a departure from the country’s authoritarian past. He has opened up th...

From Sudan’s fragile transition and Ethiopia's internal tensions to a resilient Al-Shabaab insurgency in Somalia and beyond, 2020 is set to be an important year in the Horn of Africa. Murithi Mutiga, Crisis Group’s Project Director for the region, joins Alan to discuss the conflicts and crises dominating the headlines and the ones evading them, from the Kenya-Somalia maritime dispute to the dramat...

The Al-Shabaab insurgency remains a potent force in Somalia. One understudied source of its resilience is the support it enjoys among Somali women, despite the group’s patriarchal ethos, strict gender ideology and brutal methods.  Azadeh Moaveni, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Gender, joins Alan to discuss women’s roles within the movement, from intelligence gathering, to fundraising, to arms c...

Kenya and Somalia are currently fighting a legal battle over their shared maritime border, an area rich in oil and gas.  Somalia’s President Mohammed Abdullahi "Farmajo" is playing hardball. With national elections approaching, he has taken a more assertive stance to demonstrate the country’s strength and appeal to his support base. Kenya views itself as a powerful country in a turbulent region an...

After five years of violent conflict, South Sudan’s main warring leaders, President Salva Kiir and his chief rival Riek Machar, signed a 2018 peace deal. The agreement established a ceasefire and set out a political roadmap toward elections in 2022, which included the formation of a unity government. But the peace deal is imperiled and with it the fragile ceasefire. Emmily Koiti , a civil society...

President Trump hoped that minimal engagement would bring big wins in the Horn of Africa: more U.S. trade & investment and seeing off his great power competitors. In practice, multiple surprises have forced U.S. policy into a mode of serial reaction. How are these priorities and realities truly different from those of his predecessors? And how has he dealt with themes that rarely feature in hi...

Sudan’s strongman Omar al-Bashir was swept from power in April after thirty years of autocratic rule. The country has been left with a flailing economy, political polarisation and a powerful security establishment bent on clinging on to power. Reem Abbas , activist, writer and researcher, joins Alan Boswell this week to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the post-Bashir transition. She wa...

Digital technologies are having a dramatic impact in politics. But while their influence in Western political spaces has been heavily scrutinised, little attention has been paid in Africa. Best-selling Kenyan author Nanjala Nyabola joins Alan Boswell on The Horn this week. They discuss everything from digital colonialism and the exploitation of technology by state powers to the power of social med...

Regional instability, a relative power vacuum and competition among rising Middle East states have prompted Gulf countries to seek to project their power into the Red Sea corridor. Alan Boswell is joined by Elizabeth Dickinson on this week’s episode to discuss the risks and opportunities as these countries accelerate their push for allies, influence and physical presence in the Horn of Africa. For...