Kenya and Ethiopia have offered to host the first peace conference in the first half of this year, the new and first special envoy to the Horn of Africa Xue Bing has said.
Ambassador Xue said the summit will provide a forum for the region’s governments to settle their differences through dialogue during a press conference at the China Embassy in Nairobi on Saturday.
China said in February that it has appointed the experienced senior diplomat as its special envoy to the troubled region.
With Ethiopia’s Tigray war, Somalia’s postponed elections, the South Sudan peace deal’s delaying implementation, and Sudan’s political upheaval following Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s coup and resignation, the area is in turmoil.
According to Xue, the fact that China is assigning a special envoy to the region for the first time demonstrates the country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry’s sincerity towards the region.
“The Horn of Africa region is home to countries that have traditional relations with China. We are strategic partners. This area is strategically located and abundant in resources. The potential of development is huge.
“ At the same time, there are issues of peace and security like differences over boundaries, ethnic and religious conflicts. So, peace and security is important and that is why China put forward the dialogue of peace and development to provide a platform for countries to come together to settle their differences through consultations and negotiations,” he said.