BEIJING, – Somalia has become a central focus of China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI) as Beijing deepens military and security cooperation with Mogadishu.
Earlier this month, over 20 Somali National Army officers received training scholarships in China. At the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador Wang Yu pledged Beijing “will not be absent” from efforts to achieve peace in the Horn of Africa.
The initiative comes as Somalia struggles against al-Shabaab while African Union troops gradually withdraw. Training programs now cover military, police, border security, and maritime cooperation, aligning with China’s economic and naval interests in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Analysts say Somalia highlights how GSI is evolving from rhetoric into practical security diplomacy. “China is giving the initiative substance,” said Paul Nantulya of the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies.
President Xi Jinping has pledged to train 7,000 African soldiers and officers under GSI by 2027.
