African leaders advocate for increased digital interconnection to spur regional development in the Horn of Africa.
The Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI) is spearheading a coordinated effort to digitally integrate the region, with the aim of fostering trade, stimulating economic growth, and promoting regional stability. The push for digital integration was emphasized at the 25th Ministerial Meeting of the HoAI, held in Nairobi on July 14, 2025.
Somalia's Minister of Finance, Bihi Iman Egeh, underscored the need for regional cooperation to create an enabling environment for accelerated digital integration and expansion. This call to action is backed by the HoAI Digital Policy Matrix, adopted in 2023, which outlines specific goals and strategies to digitally integrate the Horn of Africa.
The core objectives of the Matrix focus on accelerating digital connectivity and infrastructure development, promoting digital facilitation and resilience, strengthening regional energy connectivity, implementing reforms to liberalize telecom sectors, and boosting financial inclusion. These goals are being pursued through joint action, coordinated planning, and collaborative technical and ministerial meetings.
Ethiopia is leading the way in implementing these objectives. For instance, the country has liberalized its telecommunications markets to foster competition and service expansion, enacted legal frameworks for data protection and cybersecurity, and rapidly expanded its national fiber-optic infrastructure. As a result, over 19 million citizens have been registered under a national digital ID system, and mobile financial services have been scaled, driving financial inclusion.
Digital integration is seen as crucial for improving cross-border digital facilitation, stimulating economic growth through digital financial inclusion and infrastructure expansion, and promoting regional stability by fostering coordinated planning and collaboration among Horn of Africa countries.
Nnenna Nwabufo, Vice President for Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery at the African Development Bank, stressed the importance of digital integration as a central enabler across all pillars of the HoAI: trade, infrastructure, resilience, and human capital. She highlighted that digital technologies can improve inclusion and help leapfrog outdated development models.
Kenya's fintech innovation, particularly the success of M-PESA, is cited as a model for scaling digital financial services throughout the region. However, to unlock the region's full economic potential and drive long-term growth, a sustained political will and a determined, multifaceted approach are essential.
This approach includes proactively cultivating digital ecosystems by leveraging the demographic dividend, prioritizing infrastructure upgrades, implementing tighter regulatory reforms, and offering digital skills training. Moreover, blended financing is advocated to mitigate investment risks and expand digital access in underserved areas.
Ndiame Diop, World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, called for a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach encompassing cross-border coordination, substantial financing, robust policy support, and digital infrastructure investments. Such measures, according to Diop, could transform digital integration into a powerful engine of economic transformation for the Horn of Africa, ensuring no one is left behind in the digital era.
In conclusion, the HoAI's push for digital integration in the Horn of Africa is a significant step towards creating vital employment opportunities, reducing trade barriers, and fostering sustainable economic growth. The region's governments, development partners, and private sectors are working together to turn the digital revolution into a reality, ultimately transforming the lives of millions in the Horn of Africa.
[1] African Development Bank. (2023). Horn of Africa Initiative Digital Policy Matrix. Retrieved from https://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/digital-policy-matrix-horn-africa-initiative [2] United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. (2025). Horn of Africa Initiative: Progress and Challenges in Digital Integration. Retrieved from https://www.uneca.org/publications/horn-africa-initiative-progress-and-challenges-digital-integration [3] World Bank. (2025). Horn of Africa Initiative: Digital Integration and Economic Transformation. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/horn-of-africa-initiative/brief/horn-of-africa-initiative-digital-integration-and-economic-transformation [4] African Union. (2025). Horn of Africa Initiative: Achievements and Future Prospects. Retrieved from https://au.int/en/news/horn-africa-initiative-achievements-and-future-prospects
- The HoAI's Digital Policy Matrix, adopted in 2023, outlines specific strategies for accelerating digital connectivity and infrastructure development, promoting digital facilitation and resilience, and boosting financial inclusion as part of a comprehensive approach to digital integration in the Horn of Africa.
- Ndiame Diop, World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, emphasizes the need for a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach to digital integration, including cross-border coordination, substantial financing, robust policy support, and digital infrastructure investments, to transform digital integration into a powerful engine of economic transformation for the region.
