East Africa

Somalia and Turkey Mark Republic Day — And a Partnership Forged in Crisis Mogadishu’s salute to a trusted ally Under the bright Mogadishu sun, a small crowd filtered into the Turkish Embassy’s courtyard on Wednesday, where Turkish and Somali flags hung side by side and a brass band played the familiar crescendos of national anthems. It was a moment at once ceremonial and deeply personal: Somalia joined Turkey in marking the 102nd anniversary of the Republic, with Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre calling the day “a shared…

Conflict, poverty and collapsing services: why cholera is surging again "Peace is health," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus repeats in briefings, a blunt reminder that infectious disease is not merely a biological problem but a political and social one. In late August 2025, WHO warned the world that cholera is resurging — and that the drivers are familiar: armed conflict, broken water and sanitation systems, deepening poverty and strained vaccine supplies. The warning is not abstract.…

Conflict, poverty and collapsing services: why cholera is surging again "Peace is health," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus repeats in briefings, a blunt reminder that infectious disease is not merely a biological problem but a political and social one. In late August 2025, WHO warned the world that cholera is resurging — and that the drivers are familiar: armed conflict, broken water and sanitation systems, deepening poverty and strained vaccine supplies. The warning is not abstract.…

South West Somalia Tries to Turn Down the Temperature — Online and Off Somalia’s South West State is drawing a line against those it says are fanning inter-clan tensions from afar, announcing this week it will pursue legal action against people accused of inciting violence and revenge killings. The warning comes as local elders and administrators push a fragile peace deal in Diinsoor, a town in Bay region where recent clashes between armed militias ignited long-simmering grievances. “There are people outside the conflict…

Analysis: A diplomat’s lonely fight exposes a bigger test for Canada’s foreign service OTTAWA — The room was quiet when Madina Iltireh finished talking. She had just told a small crowd of former colleagues and friends what it felt like to represent Canada abroad while, she says, being made to feel she did not belong. “I was representing Canada, but Canada did not represent me,” she said softly, standing in a downtown Ottawa conference room. “I went through hell.” The hell she describes unfolded thousands of kilometres…

Somali Youth Unemployment Deepens as Foreign Workers Take Local Jobs — A Threat to the Nation’s Future

Somalia’s Jobless Youth and the Expat Premium: What Happens When a Country Outsources Its Future? MOGADISHU — On a hot morning near Kilometre 4, the capital’s arteries of traffic pulse around concrete blast walls and coffee stalls. At a curbside kiosk, a queue of young men and women refresh their phones, swapping links to job ads that feel always just out of reach. Many are college graduates; most live with family; almost all say the same thing: the opportunities are elsewhere. Somalia is far from the only place where a…

Somalia and Rwanda Sign a Cooperation Pact. Here’s Why It Matters Beyond Kigali On a brisk Monday in Kigali, Somalia’s foreign minister, Abdisalam Abdi Ali, and Rwanda’s top diplomat, Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe, put ink to paper on a General Cooperation Agreement that is modest on its face and ambitious in its implications. The accord promises collaboration in diplomacy, trade, investment, and capacity building—terms that can read like bureaucratic shorthand. But stitched into the fabric of this deal is a larger…

Djibouti Clears Way for President Guelleh to Run Again — What It Means for a Tiny but Pivotal State Djibouti’s parliament has removed a constitutional age limit that would have barred the 77‑year‑old president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, from seeking another term, clearing the path for him to run in the April 2026 election. The decision, short and decisive in the capital, underscores a growing pattern across parts of Africa in which long‑serving leaders reshape rules to extend their time in office — with consequences that ripple…

Yemen and Somalia Look to the Gulf of Aden for a Reset — Trade, Flights, and a Security Hedge On a warm Sunday in Aden, inside a government building that has seen more than its share of chapter changes, Yemen’s Transport Minister Dr. Abdisalam Hamid sat down with Somalia’s ambassador, Abdulhakim Mohamed, to talk about rebuilding old routes across a troubled sea. The meeting didn’t produce the flashy, sweeping pledges that crowd the diplomatic calendar. Yet in a region where small steps often foreshadow bigger shifts, their…