Franco-Somali businessman and presidential candidate in Somalia, Abshir Aden Ferrois the guest of the seventh edition of Mon Heure d’Afrique. In this issue dedicated to security in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the CEO of the London-based Fort Roche Group discusses the consequences for Somalia of this resurgence of violence in the Horn of Africa due to attacks by the Houthis from Yemen and supported by Iran. Broadcast in a version dubbed in French Tuesday July 2 at 3:00 p.m. GMT on the TV channel of the Financial Afrik group, the program will then be available for broadcast by African television stations which request it.
For this new edition of Mon Heure d’Afrique (MHA7), three reports were produced in Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Already bruised by thirty years of civil war, Somalia is experiencing a new upsurge in piracy, after the relative lull of the last ten years. Located in the heart of the Red Sea, Djibouti, where fleets from around the world patrol, occupies a strategic place in the region. This neighbor of Somalia has managed to do well, taking advantage of the interruption of maritime trade due to Houthi attacks thanks to its port where the attacked vessels are stationed. Ethiopia, which has some 123 million inhabitants, lost its access to the sea at the same time as it lost the war in Eritrea in 1991. To avoid the additional cost imposed by Djibouti in the use of its port facilities, Addis Ababa signed, on 1is January 2024, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Somaliland regarding the port of Berbera. This provoked the ire of Somalia since Somaliland is not internationally recognized.
Abshir Aden Ferro was also challenged by two eminent experts: the former special representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations (RSSG) in Somalia from 2007 to 2010, Ahmed Ould Abdallah, asked him how he planned to resolve the problem of the conflict with the armed group Al-Shabab if he wins the presidential elections in 2026. Since 2007, this terrorist group has been fighting the Somali government and the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a multidimensional mission authorized by the African Union and mandated by the United Nations Security Council. He also asked him about the African Union sending troops to Somalia and how he sees this mandate evolving.
Iran’s geopolitics expert, David Rigoulet-Roze, researcher attached to the French Institute of Strategic Analysis (IFAS), associated researcher at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) and editor-in-chief of the journal Strategic Orients interviewed him, on two counts: on the one hand, on the way in which he would like to develop the EUNAVFOR mission which has been fighting against piracy in Somalia, since 2008, as part of the ATALANTE mission. And, on the other hand, how he intends to position his country, Somalia, located on a strategic global navigation route in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, facing the rivalries of great powers like the United States and the China, but also emerging powers like Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and, of course, Iran.
Conceived and produced by the journalist Christine Holzbauer-Gueye, The show Mon Heure d’Afrique (MHA) has defended – since its launch in 2021 – an independent African point of view through reports produced in Africa by partner African television stations. A specialist in West and Central Africa, this seasoned reporter has crisscrossed the continent as a correspondent for major French newspapers from Bamako (Mali) then from Dakar (Senegal), where she lived for more than fifteen years, before returning to France in 2016. In parallel with the show that she produces, directs and presents, she created an eponymous association intended to promote freedom of expression in Africa and in the African diasporas by improving audiovisual content that is impartial and verified.
The Mon Heure d’Afrique association supports the Journalists Reporter d’Image (JRI) and the partner channels it solicits for the production of reports in its broadcasts. She offers or participates in seminars to help the editorial staff of national or local African channels to fight against fake news. MHA also helps African television stations, which do not yet have one, to create a “True or False” section and broadcast it permanently on their channels.
For further information :
To go to the Financial Afrik website:
