By RFIPosted on 12-10-2019Modified on 12-10-2019 at 03:56

Since taking office, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia has worked tirelessly to pacify the Horn of Africa. Abiy Ahmed has made some successes, which however remain sometimes incomplete.

It is an active, voluntarist, dynamic diplomacy that Abiy Ahmed engaged. The Prime Minister has multiplied bilateral meetings, tripartite, summits and trips to his neighbors, participating in a general relaxation.

After the peace, Eritrea returned to the concert of nations, with a lifting of UN sanctions a year ago .

In June 2018, Abiy Ahmed also held the first meeting for three years between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar. This summit laid the groundwork for the Addis Ababa peace accord three months later.

Abiy Ahmed received a summit between Eritrean Afeworki and Somali Farmajo , while Amarsa was long accused of supporting Shebab Islamists. He facilitated meetings with Somali, Kenyan, Eritrean and Djiboutian presidents.

" It has increased the geostrategic importance of Ethiopia. It has allowed the country to access financial support and improve its image, "says researcher Awol Allo. For another specialist, Abiy Ahmed seeks first to increase partnerships and investments. But for that, we need regional peace.

Blocked progress

But for some, the results of the Ethiopian Prime Minister remain limited.

A year ago almost to the day, RFI took you to the Ethiopian-Eritrean border . In the village of Zala Anbesa, two sisters met after two decades of forced separation. The traders were enthusiastic.

But in December 2018, Eritrea closed the door, requesting travel permits for Ethiopians. Last April, all the crossings were closed, border crossings used since the opening by thousands of Eritrean refugees to flee their country.

With the borders closed, what is the real scope of the shattering announcements of June 2018? The content of the agreement signed in Jeddah between the two countries is still unknown. Economic relations, cross-border trade? No agreement. The demarcation of the border? Same thing.
Some analysts today evoke the possibility that President Isayas first accepted Abiy's outstretched hand to play a trick on his old competitors in the fight against the Derg, that is to say the former supporters of the power in Addis: Tigrayan leaders.

As for the rest: the peace in South Sudan is floundering, the Kenya-Somalia maritime conflict will go to court, the Djibouti-Eritrea relationship remains at a standstill, and so on. Despite his good will, Abiy Ahmed will not pacify the Horn of Africa alone.

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