NEWS & POLITICS
UK targets Horn of Africa migration with $400 million Ethiopia Power Investment and Policing Pact
Britain's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has launched an official visit to Ethiopia, positioning economic investment and enhanced law-enforcement cooperation at the center of the United Kingdom's strategy to curb irregular migration from the Horn of Africa.
Enos Denhere
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia | February 3, (Running Africa) — The visit underscores London's renewed push to address what it describes as the root causes of migration—high unemployment, limited infrastructure, and transnational smuggling networks—rather than relying solely on border controls. UK officials say the approach combines job creation with coordinated policing to disrupt the criminal gangs that profit from human trafficking routes into Europe and the UK.
Power investment to drive jobs and growth
Image: addisstandard.com
A key outcome of the visit was the signing of new agreements by Gridworks, a British government-owned investor focused on electricity networks across Africa. The deals commit roughly $400 million to power transmission projects in Ethiopia, aimed at strengthening the national grid, supporting industrial growth, and generating employment.
UK officials framed the investment as both an economic and migration policy lever, arguing that improved energy infrastructure is critical to private-sector growth and long-term job creation.
Law enforcement cooperation on migration
Image: gov.uk
Speaking during the visit, Cooper emphasized closer collaboration between British and Ethiopian authorities to dismantle human smuggling networks operating across borders. She said enhanced policing cooperation would also facilitate the return of migrants without legal residency in the UK.
"We are working together to tackle the economic drivers of illegal migration and the criminal gangs who operate globally, profiting from trading in people," Cooper said. "That includes new partnerships to improve trade and create thousands of good jobs in Ethiopia so people can build better lives at home rather than making perilous journeys."
Investor confidence and humanitarian support
Image: safaricom.et
Cooper also met executives from Safaricom Ethiopia, the telecommunications firm backed by a British-led consortium that includes British International Investment. Safaricom Ethiopia Chief Executive Officer Wim Vanhelleputte said the visit signaled continued international investor confidence despite regional economic and security pressures.
In addition to commercial engagements, the Foreign Secretary was expected to announce £17 million in UK humanitarian funding. The package includes nutritional support for 68,000 malnourished children and programs focused on protecting women and girls from violence across the region.
The UK government says the combined focus on investment, enforcement, and humanitarian assistance reflects a broader recalibration of its Africa engagement, one that links development outcomes directly to migration policy.
