China to sponsor a peace conference in the Horn of Africa

(Ecofin Agency) – China is breaking with its policy of non-interference by sponsoring a conference for peace in the Horn of Africa, scheduled for June 20-22 in Addis Ababa. A major turning point, motivated by the interests of the Middle Kingdom in this region, where Beijing has its first military base abroad.

The Asian giant, which pours billions of dollars into the African continent every year to finance infrastructure projects, while ensuring that its influence is limited to the economic sphere, has confirmed the sponsorship of a conference for peace in the Horn of Africa, according to a report published on Monday, June 6 in South China Morning Post.

Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, with former Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed in 2018.

The conference, which aims to reduce tensions in this region plagued by complex and interrelated political, security and humanitarian crises, will be held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Several countries in the region will attend the conference, according to the English-speaking Chinese daily.

The official Sudanese Suna news agency reported that during a meeting with the acting undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. foreigners, Nadir Yousif Al-Tayeb, the Chinese ambassador to Khartoum, Ma Xinmin, invited Sudan to participate in the conference. Suna also indicated that other states in the region as well as the commissioner of the African Union (AU) and the executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional block grouping together seven East African countries (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda) have been invited to take part in this conference.

Source: Agence Ecofin