UN, AU Ask Obasanjo to Rescue Ethiopia Peace Deal Amid Rising Tensions

The United Nations and the African Union have asked former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to step in and help rescue Ethiopia's stalled peace process, as tensions in the country escalate, according to a report published by Information Nigeria on September 2026.

The request reflects growing international concern that the negotiations are losing momentum and that renewed friction could spill across the Horn of Africa. Details of the specific mandate given to Obasanjo have not been made public, and neither Addis Ababa nor the Tigray authorities had detailed their response at the time of publication.

Obasanjo is no stranger to the file. He served as the African Union's High Representative for the Horn of Africa and led the AU mediation panel that helped bring the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front to the negotiating table. That effort produced the Pretoria Agreement, signed on 2 November 2022, which ended a two-year war in northern Ethiopia. The conflict, which began in November 2020, killed a large number of people and displaced millions, and pushed parts of Tigray into severe humanitarian crisis.

The Pretoria deal called for a cessation of hostilities, disarmament of Tigrayan forces, restoration of basic services and humanitarian access. Its implementation has repeatedly been tested by disputes over disputed territories, the return of displaced people and political divisions within the region.

For Qatar and the Gulf, Ethiopia's stability matters because of its position on the Red Sea corridor and its ties to neighbouring states. Doha has a record of mediation in Africa, including the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur and the 2022 Doha agreement between Chad's transitional authorities and opposition groups, and Gulf states have investment and diplomatic interests across the Horn.