The unsettled, decades-long territorial dispute over the delimitation of a 100,000 square kilometers territory in the Indian Ocean which both Kenya and Somalia claim, resurfaced last month resulting in a serious diplomatic fallout. This dispute is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Although the dispute is primarily territorial, the potential presence of high-value (multi-billion dollar) hydrocarbons transforms it into a functional dispute. These two features make their maritime dispute a critical national interest issue with potential adverse effects on the security and economic wellbeing of Kenya and Somalia.

This Roundtable was part of the ongoing discourse on the Kenya-Somalia maritime border dispute. The first of this kind, a consultative forum, was held on March 14, 2019, at the HORN Institute.

This event was held on March 28, 2019, from 10:00am to 12:30pm at the HORN Institute, 50 Riverside Drive (Nairobi– Kenya). Experts in maritime law, political scientists, scholars, among others, from Kenya and Somalia, took part in this discussion.