Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: The Egyptian government increasingly wades into geopolitics in the Horn of Africa, Chad closes its border with Sudan after clashes spill into its territory, and a new report shows that more than 1,000 Kenyans are fighting for Russia.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: The Egyptian government increasingly wades into geopolitics in the Horn of Africa, Chad closes its border with Sudan after clashes spill into its territory, and a new report shows that more than 1,000 Kenyans are fighting for Russia.

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CAIRO—This week, I’m writing from Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s military expansion and large-scale infrastructure projects are well underway as his regime seeks to shore up domestic support and become an indispensable geopolitical player amid rising regional tensions.

In recent weeks, there has been increasing evidence that Egypt is being drawn into neighboring Sudan’s civil war. Satellite imagery suggests that Cairo has been carrying out drone strikes in Sudan against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been fighting the Sudanese military since 2023.

Egypt has also sought to challenge Israel’s ambitions in the Horn of Africa. Last December, Israel became the first country to formally recognize Somaliland—a breakaway region of Somalia—in a move to bolster its strategic position in the Red Sea.

Somaliland’s coastline provides immediate access to the Red Sea, which is a conduit for an estimated 12 percent of global trade, linking Europe, Asia, and Africa. The move also allows Israel to potentially establish a military presence to counter Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in the maritime corridor.

In the wake of Israel’s move, Sisi reiterated Egypt’s “special role” in Somalia and called Israel’s actions a “dangerous precedent that threatens the stability of the entire Horn of Africa.”

Egypt also deployed around 1,100 soldiers to Somalia earlier this month as part of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission........

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