The United Arabs Emirates has quietly, slowly but surely been expanding its diplomatic influence in Kenya and the Horn of Africa.
UAE’s footprints are prominently visible in the Horn of Africa through peace processes, humanitarian aid and military base agreements and port deals.
For instance, the International Crisis Group credits the UAE, alongside its ally Saudi Arabia, of brokering the peace deal between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
UAE is on record confirming its role in the talks through Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimy, who in Washington said they “played a humble role in trying to bring these two countries together”.
This has effectively shaped geopolitics in the Horn of Africa largely due to competing interests from other players, including those from the Gulf.
The UAE has become quite involved in the Horn over the past five to 10 years. It sees opportunities in the Horn [of Africa] for it to tap into ranging from port development to security ties to agricultural investments
International Crisis Group senior analyst for Somalia Omar Mahmood opines that UAE is looking to protect investments in the region.
“The UAE has become quite involved in the Horn over the past five to 10 years. It sees opportunities in the Horn [of Africa] for it to tap into ranging from port development to security ties to agricultural investments,” Mahmood told the Star.
Kamal Mohamed, a journalist and the strategic director at Horn Dialogue Center, says UAE had a prominent role in peace process and in defusing crises in the Horn of Africa.
“This was evident in the negotiations the UAE facilitated between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2018. The diplomacy of the UAE is thus credited with having succeeded in resolving a conflict that is one of the longest in the 21 century,” Mohamed said.
Eritrea is a long time ally of the UAE and has hosted its military base in Assab. Dubai’s DP World is also seeking to upgrade and maintain Eritrean ports.
TIES WITH ACHOR STATE KENYA
The bilateral relations between Kenya and the UAE have blossomed in the last 10 years following high-level diplomatic visits.
President Mwai Kibaki made a state visit to Dubai in November 2011 and held bilateral talks with the top leadership of UAE. Kibaki also opened Kenya’s Consulate General in Dubai. UAE soon after opened its embassy in Nairobi in 2012.
The visit came an year after a visa row, after UAE issued controversial visa rules that blocked non-graduate Kenyans from traveling there, thus blocking thousands seeking opportunities there.
Since then, however, the bilateral ties have been on the upswing, with more Kenyans working, travelling to and importing goods from the UAE.
Upon his election in 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta visited Abu Dhabi in November 2014 for a four-day official visit. State House said the visit sought to, as is always the phrase "expand and deepen cooperation in areas of mutual interest". That was in the first term.
In 2015, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, was in Kenya for an official visit to enhance bilateral ties.
In 2019, the two countries held the third session of the Joint Commission for Cooperation in Nairobi.
President Kenyatta cemented the ties in his second term with another three-day working on February 14 this year.
During this trip, Uhuru invited UAE investors to Kenya and called on his officials to work towards promoting bilateral trade.
He said Kenya is seeking to strengthen its bilateral trade, and that the various goods and services UAE imports from other parts of the world could be produced and supplied by Kenya.
This partnership, he noted, would help create jobs and other economic opportunities for the youth back home.
Africa Business Pages says that in the last 22 years, Kenyan exports to the UAE have increased at an annualised rate of 15.7 per cent, from $15.4 million in 1997 to $381 million in 2019.
The business development service platform further shows the total bilateral trade in 2022 stood at Sh173 billion, making UAE Kenya's fourth largest trading partner and the largest trading partner and export destination in the Middle East.
Kenya exported $381 million worth of goods — refined petroleum ($171 million), tea ($55.7 million), and sheep and goat meat ($40.2 million).
There is also the tourism opportunity on both ends.
UAE offers Kenya an opportunity to tap tourists due to its proximity to Kenya with a less than five hours flight time from Dubai to Nairobi and 5 hours 35-45 minutes to Mombasa.
Africa Business Pages also cites the availability of various airlines that provide easy connectivity and frequency to Nairobi from UAE, including Kenya Airways, Emirates Airlines (from Dubai), Air Arabia (from Sharjah), and Etihad Airways (from Abu Dhabi) as a catalyst for tourism.
Amidst the Covid-19, Kenya recorded close to 11,000 tourists from the Middle East, an increase from previous years.
“The recent lifting of a ban imposed on all inbound and transit passenger flights by UAE is now a plus to Kenya and we are soon seeing a good traffic into the country,” Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said in February as he led a delegation to market Kenya in the Dubai Expo.
HUMANITARIAN AID
UAE is also using humanitarian diplomacy enhance its presence and influence in the region.
In February, for example, the UAE — through the Emirates Red Crescent — sent 26 tonnes of food aid to Somalia amid the drought crisis.
According to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the ERC programme included delivery of water by tankers to assist those affected by drought and the digging of water wells in areas suffering from severe water scarcity.
This is seen as rapprochement on the part of UAE following the diplomatic spat of 2018, in which Mogadishu accused Abu Dhabi of interference in its domestic affairs.
At the time, Somalia’s Intelligence agency seized $9.6 million that had been flown to Mogadishu, money Somalia claimed was to be used to destabilize the country. UAE, however, said the cash was to pay the Somali army and trainees based on their 2014 military cooperation deal.
After receiving the food aid in February, Somalia Prime Minister Mohammed Roble apologized for the seizure and said the money would be returned.
While UAE, welcomed the move, President Mohamed Farmajo ordered the Central Bank Governor not to release the money. Farmaajo is seen as pro-Qatar, a country he visited in March.
The aid programme also extends to Kenya.
At the height of Covid-19 pandemic in may 2020, UAE sent medical supplies to Kenya to bolster the country’s efforts in fighting the virus.
UAE Ambassador at the time Khalid Khalifa al Mualla said through the aid, his country underscored it stands with Kenya and its neighbours as they fight the pandemic
“The UAE leadership affirms that no country is left behind as the world comes together to defeat Covid-19,” Ambassador Mualla said.
As at 2020, UAE had provided more than 433 metric tonnes of aid to over 37 countries, supporting nearly 433,000 medical professionals in the process.
In Ethiopia, the UAE in 2018 pledged a total of $3 billion in aid and investments while in 2021, it sent an aid plane containing 46 metric tonnes of food and medical supplies in support of the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region.
The country’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Mohamed Salem al Rashedi at the time said the support was part of “the directives of the UAE's wise leadership to provide humanitarian and development assistance to brotherly and friendly peoples".
In March, it announced another $85 million in aid to support humanitarian operations in Ethiopia.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths announced the support during a briefing on the drought situation in the Horn of Africa.
It is also working with the World Food Programme to help refugees fleeing Tigray to Sudan. In November 2020, for instance, it donated $4.5 million to provide food assistance to refugees fleeing the war.
Mahmood said UAE’s humanitarian diplomacy plays into its protecting and taping into the opportunities in the Horn of Africa as it serves as part of a soft power approach, not unlike other actors.
“It provides outlets to increase its access while also winning over hearts and minds,” he said.
With UAE seeking expansion of foreign direct investments flows worldwide, it is expected promote its trade ties in fast-growing economies Africa.
Already, is the most assertive Gulf state throughout Africa and the second largest foreign investor after China.
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