Nation Aspires to Continue Playing Leading Role in East Africa Geo-political Relations: MFA Official

October 15/2021 (ENA) Ethiopia is exerting efforts to continue as an important country in leading the geo-political relationship of East Africa region, a senior official of Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Neighboring Countries and IGAD Affairs Director-General, Fiseha Shawel told ENA today that Ethiopia will continue playing a key role in East Africa.

Ethiopia is in a better position to lead the political and economic integration of the countries in the region as it has big population size, strong political and economic interaction with the neighboring nations, in addition to the people-to-people relations, he noted.

Hence, Ethiopia has given a great deal of attention to enhancing and continuing Ethiopia’s leading role in the overall geopolitical relations in the region, the director-general revealed.

“The population size of Ethiopia is greater than the total population of all the nations in the region. The various infrastructures Ethiopia has, including highways, electric and gas lines as well as the Ethiopian Airlines would help the country to develop and impact not only on Ethiopia but also countries in the region. Therefore, the ongoing reform aims at shaping the diplomatic activities.”

The principle of Ethiopia’s diplomatic relations is based on internal peace and stability, the director-general noted, adding that the utmost priority has therefore been given to reverse the current challenges of the country in addition to enhancing the nation’s key role in the geopolitics of East Africa.

Ethiopia has been successfully overcoming negative influences due to the dynamic events in the geopolitics of East Africa, Fiseha stated. Efforts will be exerted to bring sustainable peace in the region by creating peaceful relation based on mutual benefits with neighboring countries.

According to him, Ethiopia will continue its ongoing efforts to bring lasting peaceful solutions to disputes regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with Sudan and Egypt as well as the Ethio-Sudan border.  

Ethiopia will also continue its mediation role to settle the dispute between Kenya and Somalia, he added.

The director-general further noted that Ethiopia’s critical role in the region has been publicly witnessed by several African leaders during the recent government formation event held in Addis Ababa.

 He stressed that the nation will stand in the forefront to strengthen sustainable peace and economic integration in the East Africa region.