Ethiopia, Kenya Strong Partners Working for Regional Peace and Stability: Kenya’s Ambassador Orina

Addis Ababa, December 19, 2025 (ENA) —Ethiopia and Kenya are strong partners that are actively working for regional peace and stability in the Horn of Africa, Kenya’s outgoing Ambassador to Ethiopia, George Orina, told ENA.

Elaborating on the role of two countries in peace and security of the region, the Ambassador noted that “Kenya and Ethiopia have been the vanguard states” in terms of promoting peace and security within the region.

“We have worked together in Somalia in support of the federal government of Somalia to deal with the threat of terror as posed by Al-Shabaab. We continue to work through the various missions of the African Union at AMISOM, ATMIS, and now AUSSOM.”

Kenya and Ethiopia still have a firm commitment when terror exists, he said, stressing that “it is our obligation and responsibility to see how to work to ensure that we have peace and security.”

For the Ambassador, sustainable development can only be realized on the foundational basis of peace and security.

 

 

Ambassador Orina further noted that the foundations of the relations of Kenya and Ethiopia were set by the founding father of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

These relations have been built on successfully by leaders of the two countries; and the leaders continue to lead from the front, Ambassador Orina said, adding that “our leaders continue to have regular interactions at bilateral level and multilateral level.”

During the interactions, he stated that the leaders recognize the common values and the aspirations of the people of this continent and the people of the two countries.

According to him, the trade volumes between the two countries has been growing and trading under the AfCFTA is going to further raise the volume of trade.

Regarding the role of the two countries in realizing regional integration, he said integration is a big agenda for Africa, the building blocks for African integration as Kenya and Ethiopia are at the forefront of such agenda.

In terms of working together, the Ambassador stressed that infrastructure is a big driver for integration, pointing at the LAPSSET Corridor Project dedicated to interconnecting Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan.

Ambassador Orina further emphasized that “energy is the biggest driver for manufacturing and industrialization. And working together, under the East African power pool, we (Kenya and Ethiopia) have developed the infrastructure for the transmission of power from Ethiopia.”

Congratulating Ethiopia on the launch of the GERD, the outgoing ambassador stated that it is “a transformative project with significant potential to lighten and contribute to the development of our region”.

Moreover, the two countries are working together to ensure that they have the foundational basis for integration and interactions between their peoples.

“Kenyans are coming to Ethiopia for tourism, and for business; and the same is happening for Ethiopians going to Kenya as free movement of people is a big driver for integration.”

Ethiopia and Kenya share deep-rooted and rapidly growing relations across political, economic, and social spheres, reinforced by high-level bilateral engagements and major infrastructure projects.