Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia agreed on Sunday to deepen political and commercial coordination, rejecting unilateral action on the Nile and outside claims over the Red Sea, as Horn diplomatic ties fractured.
The El-Alamein joint declaration was posted by Villa Somalia, the office of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. It followed a quadrilateral summit hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in New Alamein on 4 October.
“Red Sea governance is the exclusive responsibility of the littoral states,” the leaders said, while affirming freedom of navigation. They also rejected any recognition of Somaliland as a breach of Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial unity.
Leaders Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of Sudan attended. They pledged closer trade, economic and cultural ties and a standing mechanism to meet periodically.
On rivers, the four affirmed international law for transboundary waters, including the Nile. They cited the no-harm rule, prior notification and consultation, and “the complete rejection of any unilateral measures that harm the existing water uses of the two downstream states.”
The summit backed Sudan’s unity and national institutions, rejected parallel authorities and any support for mercenaries, and called for a Sudanese-owned political process. Sudan’s war has already disrupted regional trade and oil transit.
They also backed Somalia’s counter-terrorism efforts and urged “adequate, sustainable and predictable funding” for the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia, so security duties can transfer to Somali forces.
The same day, the African Union Commission clarified that its 1 October call for restraint among Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt was not an assignment of blame. Cairo had objected to that earlier note.
Ethiopia had expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats, closed its embassy in Asmara, and declared an Egyptian diplomat persona non grata. Eritrea severed ties. Egypt ordered an Ethiopian counsellor out of Cairo within 48 hours.
Addis Ababa accuses Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan of backing a Tigray People’s Liberation Front-led alliance fighting federal forces. All three deny it. Fighting resumed in September, the worst escalation since the 2020–2022 war.
African leaders also closed the eighth AU Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in El-Alamein, focused on the African Continental Free Trade Area. The four did not name Ethiopia, but the Nile, Red Sea and Somaliland clauses track disputes already straining investment corridors.
