Tughral Yamin and Tajammul Altaf 

Source: Maps of World (https://www.mapsofworld.com/answers/geography/region-called-horn-africa/#)


Tughral Yamin is non-resident fellow on Understanding Africa Project of IPS. He is also Associate Dean at Center for
International Peace and Stability (CIPS), NUST.

Tajammul Altaf is senior research fellow at IPS. He is also former ambassador of Pakistan to various countries.

[1]
Introduction The earliest Muslims fled to escape persecution and
sought refuge in the court of the Ethiopian king. The
The strategically located Horn of Africa comprises head of the Muslim delegation, Jaffar Tayyar, recited
Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. In some the verses of Surah Maryam before the monarch. The
discussions, Kenya is also considered as an extended verses resonated with the king and he granted refuge
part of the region. The area holds a great potential for to the Muslims.6
development but is mired in conflict.1 In a desperate
bid to create regional stability, Eritrea, Ethiopia and The Horn of Africa has a long history of external
Somalia have created a regional bloc but neighbors are influences. Due to its proximity to the Arabian
worried that this could destabilize East Africa.2 Peninsula, it was exposed to the message of Islam in
the 7th century and a number of Arab sultans ruled
The peninsular horn juts out as the easternmost Somalia and Djibouti until the Europeans replaced
projection of the African continent. It forms the them.7 The most prominent among the latter were the
southern base of the Gulf of Aden. Djibouti sits on the Italians, British and French.8
mouth of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This
20km wide entrance forms the mouth of the Red Sea. Pakistan’s interest in the region
The Red Sea, like the Persian Gulf, forms one of the
most important oil lanes in the world. The Bab is the Pakistan has a strong religious affinity with Somalia
equivalent of the Strait of Hormuz that guards the and Djibouti because almost all the people in these
entrance to the Persian Gulf. The Hormuz is countries follow the Shafa’i school of thought. A
approximately 40km at its narrowest. small Pakistani diaspora had lived in this part of the
world for a considerable time. These were small-time
The Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and traders of Gujarati descent running profitable
Somalia) covers approximately 2 million square businesses in their adopted African homeland.9 Some
kilometers (770,000 square miles) of landmass and is of these families and their Somali spouses still live in
inhabited by roughly 115 million people (Ethiopia: a neighborhood of Karachi and follow a unique culture
96.6 million, Somalia: 15.4 million, Eritrea: of their own. Before the civil war they had fixed seats
6.4 million, and Djibouti: 0.81 million). in the Somali parliament.
Unlike other parts of Africa, where people subscribe Pakistan supported the Somalis in their struggle for
to primitive beliefs and animism, this area has a strong independence and an official delegation participated
imprint of Abrahamic religions. There is a sprinkling in the Independence Day celebrations in Mogadishu
of Jews in Ethiopia as Ethiopians for the most part are on July 1, 1960.10 After World War II, Italy
Christians. Muslims form the majority in Somalia, relinquished control and Somalia was given to the UN
Djibouti and Eritrea.3 Ethiopia was the oldest trusteeship. It remained under Italian administration
Christian monarchy in the world4 until the latter was for 10 more years until 1960 as part of UN trust
abolished in the second half of the 20th century.5 territory. Upon independence, Somalia was merged
with the residual Somalian territory under the British
protectorate to form the Somali Republic. Four years

1
Redie Bereketeab, ed., The Horn of Africa: Intra-State and Inter-State Conflicts and Security (Pluto Press, 2013), xiii-xiv.
2
Ingo Henneberg and Sören Stapel, “Cooperation and Conflict at the Horn of Africa: A New Regional Bloc between
Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia and Its Consequences for Eastern Africa,” Africa Spectrum (August 18, 2020); “Why a
proposed Horn of Africa bloc could destabilize the larger region,” The Conversation, September 09, 2020, accessed January
14, 2021.
3
Nehemia Levtzion and Randall Pouwels, The History of Islam in Africa (Ohio University Press, 2000), 228.
4
Andrew Clark, “Ethiopia’s Prince Selassie. The exiled prince from the world’s oldest monarchy,” Financial Review, June
22, 2017.
5
Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles (London: Oxford University Press, 1967), 139-43.
6
Ja’far Subhani, “Chapter 17: The First Migration,” Al-Islam.org, accessed January 14, 2021.
7
Dr. Elnour Hamad, Professor Abdulla al-Fiki al-Bashir, and Dr. Abdulwahab al-Qassab, eds., The Arabs and the Horn of
Africa: The Dialectic between Proximity and Belonging (ARCP, November 18, 2013).
8
Yishak Yared, “Colonialism in the Horn,” hornofafrica.de, accessed January 14, 2021.
9
“Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Osman Mohammad Adde has assured the Pakistani community in Somalia that
it shall not be prevented from doing retail business,” Ummah: Voice of the Community, Volume 1. (Central Institute of Islamic
Research, 1964).
10
Tughral Yamin, UN Peacekeeping Operations in Somalia 1992-1995: A Pakistani Perspective (Karachi: Paramount
Books), 46.

[2]
later, Somalia fought with Ethiopia over the Ogaden Djibouti.15 The Indians are also planning to set up a
region. The country was run by a civilian government naval base in Djibouti in collaboration with the
for the first few years until the 1969 military coup of Japanese.16 The Saudis want a base in Djibouti to
General Mohamed Siad Barre. Barre held power for support their war effort in Yemen and17 a deal to that
more than two decades. He attempted to regain the effect has been finalized with the Government of
territories that the Somalis had lost over the years, Djibouti.18 Pakistan’s military presence in the area is
which included portions of Djibouti, Ethiopia and limited to a few military observers deployed in
Kenya, by invading the Ogaden region in 1977. Somalia. The only Pakistani diplomatic mission is
Pakistan sent a military team to train the Somali located in Ethiopia, but given the importance of
army.11 Since the area was familiar, the government of Djibouti, the Government of Pakistan is also making
Pakistan had no qualms in being the first country to headways to set up an embassy there.19
send troops to protect the UN humanitarian mission in
Somalia in the early 1990s.12 This also provided Future Scope: The Way Forward &
Pakistan an opportunity to break out of international Recommendations
isolation because of the end of the Cold War.13
The Horn of Africa remains a restive region. Ethiopia
In the 19th century, the British coaling stopped in has its problems, the government in Eritrea is busy
Djibouti as a small military outpost protected its quelling the revolt in the restive Tigray region,20 and
merchant vessels. Now all major countries of the Somalia is wrecked by Al Shabab insurgency. 21
world are scrambling to establish military posts in this However, the geopolitical and strategic importance
small but important country. Both the US and China of the region cannot be ignored: Not only does the
have bases in Djibouti. Camp Lemonnier is the US Horn dominate the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, it also
Naval Expeditionary Base, situated next to Djibouti- has tremendous natural resources.22 Somalia has
Ambouli International Airport in Djibouti City. It is significant offshore oil reserves,23 and is favorite
home to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of hunting ground for foreign fishing trawlers.24 The
Africa (CJTF-HOA) of the US Africa Command Chinese are involved in building the urban areas and
(USAFRICOM). The American drones and Special using their knowledge in developing cities. Similarly,
Forces operating in Somalia are also based here.14 The in Ethiopia, the capital city Addis Ababa mirrors the
People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has Chinese model of urban development.25
established its country’s first overseas military base in

11
ibid, 65.
12
ibid, 66-67.
13
ibid, 12.
14
“Camp Lemonnier,” Naval Technology, January 23, 2011, https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/camplemonnier/
15
Douglas Huneke, “The Ghost of Zheng He: China’s Naval Base in Djibouti,” Berkley Political Review, April 19, 2017,
accessed January 15, 2021, https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2017/04/19/the-ghost-of-zheng-he-chinas-naval-base-in-djibouti/.
16
“India Set to Operate Massive Military (Naval) Base in Djibouti with Japan,” The EurAsian Times, October 17, 2018,
accessed January 15, 2021.
17
Habib Toumi, “Saudi Arabia ‘to open military base in Djibouti’,” Gulf News, March 8, 2016, accessed January 15, 2021.
18
John Aglionby and Simeon Kerr, “Djibouti finalising deal for Saudi Arabian military base,” Financial Times, January 17,
2017, accessed January 15, 2021.
19
“Pakistan will open Embassy in Djibouti: Chairman Senate,” Dawn, December 30, 2020, accessed January 12, 2021.
20
Gabriel Negatu and Cameron Hudson, “War in the Tigray region of Ethiopia,” The Frontier Post, November 12, 2020,
accessed January 15, 2021.
21
“Al Shabab’s Insurgency and Somalian Imbroglio in the Horn of Africa,” Eurasia Review, January 15, 2021, accessed
January 15, 2021.
22
“Report: Horn of Africa Borderland Communities can Achieve Economic Prosperity,” The World Bank, May 19, 2020,
accessed January 15, 2021.
23
Heidi Vella, “Sizing up Somalia: a new offshore oil frontier in the making,” Offshore Technology, July 6, 2020.
24
Sarah M. Glaser, Paige M. Roberts and Kaija J. Hurlburt, “Foreign Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing in Somali
Waters Perpetuates Conflict,” Frontiers in Marine Science, December 6, 2019,
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00704/full
25
Tom Goodfellow and Zhengi Huang, “Contingent infrastructure and the dilution of ‘Chineseness’: Reframing roads and
rail in Kampala and Addis Ababa,” Environment Planning Journal, November 19, 2020, accessed January 15, 2021.

[3]
Source: CNN Style (https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/addis-ababa-china-construction-style/index.html)
China also built the first metro system in Sub- collaboration with the Chinese People’s
Saharan Africa in Addis Ababa. Its two lines cut Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) support base in
through the heart of the city, and carry at least Djibouti to counter piracy and terrorism. 28
30,000 passengers an hour, who pay 6 birr ($0.30) a
ride.26 The project is similar to the Orange Line  Pakistan may consider opening its embassy in
being constructed by the Chinese as a mass transit in Somalia to revive our historical, religious and
Lahore. cultural ties.

The following roadmap is recommended for  Pakistan can help Somalia and Eritrea by
increasing the scope of relationship with the participating in international efforts meant for
countries in the Horn of Africa: rebuilding, reconstruction and rehabilitation of
these conflict-ravaged countries, upon the return
 Pakistan can enhance its bilateral relations as of normalcy, through collaboration with Chinese
well as build its goodwill with African states by companies.
sending humanitarian missions to African
countries more frequently. Recently, Pakistan  Not many entrepreneurs would consider
sent Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Nasr to Djibouti, venturing into conflict zones. But Djibouti and
Niger and Sudan, which have been affected by Ethiopia are certainly areas that need to be
natural disasters.27 explored for trade, construction and
development of infrastructure for which Frontier
 The approval for opening of an embassy in Works Organization and National Logistics Cell
Djibouti is a welcome step that will augment can look into possibilities of cooperation.
bilateral relations based on our religion, shared
values, cultures and commonalities of interests.  The retired armed forces officers, who have
Focused efforts need to be initiated in this served in Arica with UN peacekeeping missions,
regard. may explore the possibility of joint ventures in
establishing security companies in Djibouti,
 Once the embassy is established, Pakistan may Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
consider Pakistan Navy’s joint operations and

26
“How Addis Ababa came to look like a Chinese city,” Post-Courier, September 3, 2018.
27
“PN ship sails off to Africa on humanitarian mission,” Dawn, January 18, 2021, www.dawn.com/news/1602124.

[4]
 Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) scholarships, gratis courses, and frequent
has a fleet of 11 ships with a total carrying interactions for African nationals.
capacity of over 831,000 tons of all types of
cargoes on several geographical routes covering  The African diplomats, defense forces officers,
almost the whole world. The average cost of professionals, and students, who acquired
importing a container in Africa is about $2,492 education, training, and capacity building in
compared with $935 in East Asia and the Pacific Pakistan, can be the real assets for Pakistan. They
and $1,488 in Latin America and the Caribbean have a soft corner for Pakistan and hence, can
(Brenton and Isik, 2012). PNSC needs to compete nurture the country’s soft image. Some of them
with international shipping companies by offering have reached the pinnacle of their careers and are
the most economical freights for African ports holding key positions in their countries. Pakistan
including Djibouti. should engage these Africans and seek their
support for Pakistan’s position on important
 Another big opportunity in the promotion of trade, issues. For this, an active database must be
economic cooperation and investment in Djibouti, maintained of African nationals and officials who
Somalia and Eritrea, having access to ports, is the have been trained by Pakistani ministries,
construction of big warehouses, plants for cement, departments and training institutions, for reviving
sugar and textiles, and steel mills and tanneries for relations and association with them through
possible supplies to land-locked states adjacent to updated contact information. It is further
the Horn of Africa countries. recommended that databases of different training
institutions, ministries and departments should be
 Africa offers a big market for pharmaceuticals. integrated as one main database available to all
The private sector dealing with pharmaceuticals entities concerned and Pakistan’s missions abroad
should spearhead a well-organized marketing for contacts and interaction.
campaign by taking Pakistan’s embassies/high
commissions on board for the export of  For education and scholarly exchanges, some
pharmaceuticals to the Horn of Africa and pragmatic and doable recommendations are that
adjacent land-locked countries. courses on Africa should be offered in Pakistani
universities and training institutes along with
 Pakistan has made significant achievements in the selected African languages, such as at NUML.
fields of science and technology, information There should be optimal utilization of sufficient
technology, telecommunications, agriculture, funds available with the Ministry of Foreign
agro-based industries, biotechnology and Affairs (MoFA) and Economic Affairs Division
alternative energy sources. Pakistan should share (EAD) under Special Technical Assistance
its experiences in these areas with Djibouti, Program for academic research and scholastic
Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. improvement. Moreover, regular interactions and
networking between HEC, Africa area studies
 Pakistani private commercial banks such as Habib
centers, Africa Division at MoFA and EAD must
African Bank Ltd, United Bank Ltd, Habib Bank
take place. There can be exchange of African and
Ltd, Bank AL Habib Ltd, Muslim Commercial
Pakistani students under agreements and linkage
Bank Group, and Habib Bank Ltd are operating
programs between African and Pakistani
successfully in East and Southern Africa. The
universities and purchase of books on Africa as
government must encourage more Pakistani
well as the subscription of African journals
private sector commercial banks to open branches
published around the world by official libraries of
in African countries that face open seas and
Pakistan. Furthermore, Pakistan’s research
connect with land-locked countries.
institutes need to establish dedicated African
 Pakistan has an edge in providing educational studies centers for research in areas of mutual
facilities, training and capacity building courses, interest for forging closer institutional
seats and scholarships in professional institutions, engagement with Africa.
defense training institutions, such as in the
 Pakistan’s Africa policy needs to be reviewed,
Foreign Service Academy under Pakistan
revised and revamped in terms of prospects for the
Technical Assistance Program (PTAP) and
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),
Special Technical Assistance Program (STAP).
which has become a buzzword in modern lexicon
There is an imperative need to increase these
for relations with the African countries by setting
facilities, especially the number of seats,
short-term, medium-term and long-term goals.

[5]
This will lead to a holistic strategic policy based people-to-people contacts by involving the public
on robust political, diplomatic and economic and private sectors, armed forces’ institutions, and
engagement, vibrant defense cooperation, and the Pakistani diaspora in Africa.

Prepared by:

Tughral Yamin
Non-Resident Research Fellow
on Understanding Africa Project of IPS

and

Tajammul Altaf
Senior Research Fellow at IPS

For queries:

Kulsoom Belal
Research Officer/Assistant Editor
kulsoom@ips.net.pk | www.ips.org.pk

[6]