The Horn of Africa States region is part of Africa and shares many of its ills with the rest of the continent. These would include marginalization and dependence on others involving, in the main, foreign actors and forces in its socio-political and economic systems. The foreign actors include the historical colonial Europeans and Americans, the Russian-Ex-Soviets, the entry of China into the continent and, indeed, the rise of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which have become pests feeding on Africa and which have disabled most of the institutions, be they health or educational and others, that were inherited from colonial Europe after independence. These have together not only kept the continent marginalized ever more but also increased its dependency on others.

This has contributed to the rise of corrupt leaderships, who mostly lack self-confidence in themselves and hence rely more on their tribal/clan backgrounds to rule over vast territories inhabited by populations generally considered internal tribal/clan enemies instead of co-citizens in the countries whose contours and maps were made by Europeans.  Instead of serving these populations, the corrupt leaders in European-style suits continue to serve the foreign actors and forces, who themselves continue to exploit the region’s wealth and natural resources.

There was hope and expectations of development, and forward march into a better future in the region, after independence. However, and unfortunately, those leaders who took over the nations of the region were no more than the servants and puppets of the colonials who pretended to be leaving but never really left.