Mediating the Horn’s Wars: An Exit Interview

About this episode

Alan interviews Babatunde Afolabi about mediation and conflict resolution in the Horn of Africa, discussing various regional conflicts and the challenges of cooperation.

In this episode of The Horn , Alan speaks with Babatunde Afolabi, former Africa Director at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), now Director of Political Affairs at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, about mediation and conflict resolution in the Horn of Africa. They discuss HD’s discreet work facilitating dialogue between conflict parties, and why the Horn’s history, politics and geopolitics make regional cooperation such a challenge. They turn to Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where the Pretoria agreement that halted two years of devastating war risks unravelling, and to Oromia, where HD- and IGAD-facilitated talks between the government and the Oromo Liberation Army came close to a deal before collapsing. They also discuss Sudan’s hard-to-resolve war, prospects for dialogue with Al-Shabaab in Somalia, and why locally grounded dialogue remains essential to ending wars. For more, check out our Horn of Africa page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Alan

Guest: Babatunde Afolabi

Topics covered

• mediation
• conflict resolution
• Horn of Africa
• Ethiopia
• Sudan
• Oromo Liberation Army
• Al-Shabaab

Keywords

• mediation
• conflict resolution
• Horn of Africa
• Ethiopia
• Tigray
• Oromia
• Sudan
• Al-Shabaab
• Oromo Liberation Army
• dialogue

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Economic Community of West African States, Al-Shabaab, IGAD

Places: Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Tigray, Oromia, Sudan

More episodes of The Horn

• Tiny Djibouti, and Its Prime Real Estate · June 4, 2026 · 27 min
• Sudan, and a Region and World in Upheaval · May 15, 2026 · 36 min
• Somalia’s Election Standoff and New Inflection Point · April 30, 2026 · 36 min
• Bonus Episode: After Three Years of War in Sudan, What Hope for a Ceasefire? · April 9, 2026 · 42 min
• How the Iran War is Reshaping the Region · April 2, 2026 · 37 min
• What’s Really Going on in the Horn? · March 19, 2026 · 36 min