East Africa

Somalia Welcomes Egypt’s Security Pledge — and Steps Onto a Narrow Diplomatic Tightrope Mogadishu’s new embrace from Cairo comes as the Nile dispute looms and Ethiopia watches closely Somalia’s leaders have a way of smiling through storms. In Mogadishu this week, officials welcomed Egypt’s renewed pledge to back the country’s security and state-building — a gesture with history behind it and geopolitics baked into it. On paper, it is straightforward: Cairo says it will support the new African Union Support and…

Cycling Through the Heart of Africa: Rwanda's Historic Championship In an exciting inaugural event for the continent, Rwanda is hosting the prestigious annual cycling championship, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Running from September 21 to 28 in the vibrant capital of Kigali, this championship is a significant milestone, not just for the nation but for Africa’s visibility on the global sports stage. As the "Land of a Thousand Hills" welcomes elite cyclists and fans from around the world, the event…

Analysis: Somalia’s Fractured Politics Meet Red Sea Power Plays On a humid September evening in Mogadishu, a handshake meant for the cameras never happened. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had hoped to sit down with Jubbaland leader Ahmed Mohamed Islam, better known as Ahmed Madobe, before flying to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Kenya, a frequent mediator in Somali politics, had quietly worked the phones to make it happen. But at the last moment, the meeting fell apart, after opposition figures urged…

Kenya’s Somali Vote Emerges as 2027 Kingmaker — and a Test of the Country’s Coalitions On a blustery afternoon in Mandera, near the triple border where Kenya meets Ethiopia and Somalia, the political message was as direct as the dusty road to the venue: the Somali community will count, perhaps more than ever, in the 2027 election. Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, a seasoned operative known for his sharp tongue and long-time loyalty to opposition leader Raila Odinga, stood alongside President William Ruto and said the quiet part…

Kenya’s Mudavadi warns AI is reshaping the terror threat. The question is: Are we ready? The warning from New York On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi offered a stark message: artificial intelligence is no longer a distant technology story. It’s a security story—and a fast-moving one. “AI tools could be used to generate propaganda, manipulate information through deepfakes, automate recruitment messaging, or support cyber-enabled…

Ramla Ali’s Homecoming: A Boxer’s Quiet Power in a Country Finding Its Feet At Aden Adde International Airport, where the palm fronds sway and the wind blows in from the Indian Ocean, a ripple of applause rolled down the arrivals hall. Flag-waving fans pressed forward, mothers hoisted toddlers onto their hips, and the noise swelled into a chant for a fighter who once trained in secret. Ramla Ali—Somalia’s first Olympic boxer and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador—was back in Mogadishu. On Sunday, the 35-year-old featherweight…

Somalia’s Deputy Foreign Minister meets Sen. Ted Cruz as North Western State of Somalia recognition debate intensifies On a quiet Saturday in Washington, a meeting that might have passed as routine diplomacy was anything but. Somalia’s deputy foreign minister, Ali Omar Ali—widely known by his nickname, Balcad—sat down with Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and has emerged as one of the most vocal advocates in Washington for recognizing North Western State of…

Somali filmmaker Khadar Ayderus Ahmed readies ‘Thundering Smoke,’ a bold return to East Africa’s silver screen LONDON — One of the most intriguing new voices in African cinema is setting his sights on a daring second act. Khadar Ayderus Ahmed, the Somali director who charmed Cannes and gathered armfuls of festival prizes with his feature debut The Gravedigger’s Wife, is preparing his next film: a genre-bending thriller about a middle-aged Somali hitwoman who returns to the village that once expelled her. A hitwoman comes…

Somalia’s Climate Fight Is Also a Battle for Peace — and for Fair Finance On a recent morning along Somalia’s Shabelle River, neighbors climbed onto rooftops clutching documents and schoolbooks as floodwaters surged through villages already battered by years of conflict. It was a scene that has become uncomfortably familiar across the country: people surviving one disaster only to be driven into another. The number of internally displaced people in Somalia has now surpassed 3.8 million — a figure that captures not just the…

Minnesota charges eight in alleged Medicaid housing fraud as state moves to reboot troubled program Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged eight people with orchestrating more than $8 million in alleged wire fraud tied to the state’s Housing Stabilization Services program, a Medicaid benefit intended to keep disabled and elderly residents housed. The indictments, announced Thursday in Minneapolis, mark what prosecutors called the “first wave” in a widening probe into a program that ballooned far beyond its original…