Mogadishu, (SONNA) — The Minister of Finance of the Federal Government of Somalia, H.E. Bihi Iman Egeh, and Mr. Ndiamé Diop, the Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa of the World Bank will co-chair the 26th Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI) Ministerial Meeting on 15 October 2025 in Washington, D.C., held alongside the IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings. The ministerial will concentrate on accelerating development in the Horn’s borderlands — a priority area for HoAI that targets cross-border infrastructure, trade facilitation and socio-economic resilience in frontier communities.
The Horn of Africa Initiative is a country-led regional platform launched to deepen cooperation across the Horn, with finance ministries, regional bodies and development partners coordinating priority packages of investments and policy reforms. At inception development partners signalled large-scale support (the Initiative has referenced an initial funding package in the billions) and, as of mid-2025, HoAI’s project pipeline showed nearly $9.0 billion in commitments across 125 approved projects — spanning transport corridors, digital integration, and borderland programmes. Recent HoAI ministerials have also advanced technical papers and sectoral roadmaps that feed directly into ministerial decisions.
Expect the Washington meeting to review the Roadmap for Accelerating Development in the Borderlands (2024–27) and to push for faster delivery on priority packages — from regional corridors and digital connectivity to climate-resilient livelihoods and social cohesion work coordinated with partners such as the AfDB, World Bank, IGAD and UN agencies. Somalia’s rising profile in HoAI was underscored when the Federal Government assumed the Initiative’s leadership at recent ministerials, positioning Mogadishu to steer regional priorities that directly affect Somali borderland communities and cross-border trade routes. The meeting will therefore be watched closely for concrete project timetables, financing pledges, and coordination decisions that could unlock faster investment on the ground.
