Kenya’s Ruto Reportedly Played Role in Eritrea’s Decision to Return to IGAD

In 2007, Eritrea boycotted the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East Africa trade bloc that includes governments from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley, and the African Great Lakes, where Asmara was an original member, citing bias after it was accused of supporting extremist groups in neighboring Somalia.

Kenyan President William Ruto has been instrumental in convincing Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to rejoin the regional trade bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, nearly a decade and half after Asmara departed the eight-country bloc, local media reported, citing IGAD.

Last week, Ruto held a bilateral meeting with his Eritrean counterpart Afwerki in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where the two discussed the issue of regional integration.

“Any meaningful bilateral cooperation has to be seen within the broader context of regional integration,” Afwerki told the press following the meeting with Ruto. “We cannot achieve bilateral cooperation without integration, which we have been working on for decades. It is not an invention. This is an obligation in the name of the people of the Horn of Africa and we have a responsibility of revitalizing IGAD.”

Afwerki pointed out that Asmara has “no question about” returning to IGAD, calling for the reunion of the bloc's member states to “create an institution that is functional and result-oriented.”

Eritrea left IGAD in 2007, in the wake of a report by the regional bloc accusing Asmara of supporting Al-Shabaab*, an al-Qaeda*-affiliated militant group mainly active in neighboring Somalia.

IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu welcomed the return of Eritrea, one of the original members of the bloc, to the IGAD family, saying that he was “delighted” by President Afwerki’s decision.

Sudan, the current president of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, has also welcomed Eritrea’s return to the bloc, saying that such a development would “enhance peace and stability in the region and push forward the regional integration efforts, which represents one of the main objectives of the organization.”

Regarding Nairobi-Asmara bilateral relations, which have been weak over the past few years, Kenyan President Ruto said that he and Afwerki had reached an agreement to “permanently abolish visa requirements” between Kenya and Eritrea as part of a joint plan to “facilitate growth in trade and connectivity between people and business.”

“With the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area, we must team up and map out mutually beneficial strands of trade and investment opportunities for our countries,” Ruto said. “There exists immense economic potential for collaboration between Kenya and Eritrea that calls for structured engagement.”

Afwerki's visit to Kenya came a few months after Kenya’s Ruto visited Asmara shortly after assuming the presidency, thus ending the stalemate in relations that had lasted for years.

*Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda are terrorist organizations outlawed in Russia and other countries.