The Finance Ministers of the five Horn of Africa countries — Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea—at the launch of the Horn of Africa Initiative, issued a joint communiqué on 18 October 2019 in which they stressed the importance of regional, coordinated and concerted action among the countries to face common development challenges hampering economic growth and poverty eradication efforts.

The new trajectory in regional cooperation in the Horn provides the basis for the Horn of Africa Initiative. The case for regional integration and cooperation is embedded in the Horn’s geography, history, social, and economic factors. First, integration can help to accelerate the growth engine, promote economic diversification, and expand regional trade.

Attention to filling gaps in critical regional infrastructure along with ‘soft’ policy and regulatory reforms is one of the models to propel growth.