High-level officials, policymakers, and regional experts from across the Horn of Africa have called for deeper regional integration, stronger cooperation, and durable peace during a major regional dialogue held in Jigjiga, eastern Ethiopia.

The Horn Inter-Elite Dialogue brought together senior government officials, policymakers, and experts to advance strategic autonomy, regional integration, and lasting peace across the Horn of Africa.

Organised by the Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Centre for Responsible and Peaceful Politics, and the Somali Regional State, the dialogue was held under the theme “Strengthening Regional Agency for Strategic Autonomy and Durable Peace in the Horn of Africa.”

Discussions at the forum focused on the Horn of Africa’s growing geopolitical significance, economic ambitions, and persistent instability, with participants emphasizing the urgent need for stronger regional cooperation.

The participants noted that despite the region’s strategic position along some of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes, cooperation within the Horn remains fragmented while external geopolitical competition continues to intensify.

Opening the forum, Institute of Foreign Affairs Director General Jafar Bedru stressed the need for regional elites to confront what he described as a long-standing contradiction between calls for African-led solutions and the political realities on the ground.

He argued that foreign influence in the region has often been enabled internally by divisions among political actors within the Horn itself.

The dialogue comes at a time when countries across the Horn are grappling with overlapping challenges ranging from political tensions and insecurity to climate shocks, migration pressures, economic fragmentation, and global competition over strategic trade corridors linked to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.Somalia’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Ambassador Jamaal Mohamed, said discussions about the region too often focus narrowly on crisis and instability while overlooking the Horn’s long history of social and economic interconnectedness.

According to him, integration in the region already exists naturally among communities and border populations, but political and institutional systems have failed to keep pace.

The participants also highlighted the growing strategic importance of the Horn as global powers increasingly compete for influence across shipping lanes, ports, military infrastructure, and emerging trade corridors. Djibouti's Minister of Economy and Finance in charge of Industry and Planning, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh said engagement with external actors should be approached through stronger regional coordination rather than isolated national calculations.

From neighboring Kenya, Garissa Governor Nathif Jama Adam described border regions as places where the realities of displacement, migration, climate vulnerability, and cross-border trade are experienced daily.

He warned that instability in one country inevitably spills across borders and called for stronger regional coordination mechanisms through IGAD.

Hosting the event in Jigjiga, President of Somali Regional State, Mustafe Mohamed Omar, said the location itself symbolizes the growing importance of cross-border cooperation in the Horn.

He described Jigjiga as a meeting point linking Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and wider regional communities through trade, culture, mobility, and shared history.Mustafe added that the Horn’s challenges are increasingly transnational while political responses remain largely confined within national borders.

Jigjiga Forum is expected to become an annual platform aimed at promoting regional dialogue on peacebuilding, trade connectivity, infrastructure coordination, and cross-border cooperation.