The new year has already brought a rapidly deteriorating security outlook to the Horn of Africa. The year kicked off with news of a memorandum of understanding signed by Ethiopia and Somaliland giving Ethiopia access to the Port of Berbera and a stretch of coastline along the Gulf of Aden. One week after the bombshell deal was announced, the Somali President was calling on his Eritrean counterpart, Isaias Afwerki, in Asmara. While the Somali and Eritrean leaders met, Ethiopian officials reportedly held talks on military cooperation with Somaliland. Africa in Transition Michelle Gavin, Ebenezer Obadare, and other experts track political and security developments across sub-Saharan Africa.
