Bridging Fragmentation In The Horn Of Africa-Gulf Logistics Systems: Lessons From The Malacca–ASEAN–Indian Ocean System

This article examines a strategically critical but still fragmented maritime space linking Djibouti, Berbera, Bosaso, Mogadishu, Eritrean ports (Assab and Massawa), and Port Sudan with Gulf hubs such as Jeddah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. Despite its growing importance as a bridge between Africa, the Middle East, and the wider Indian Ocean economy, the system still operates more through parallel bilateral connections than through coordinated regional network logic. Using the Malacca–ASEAN–Indian Ocean system as a comparative reference, the analysis argues that global trade is increasingly organised not around linear routes, but around integrated logistics ecosystems shaped by interconnected ports, chokepoints, transshipment hubs, and digital-regulatory infrastructures.

The central argument is that the decisive frontier in modern logistics is no longer physical infrastructure alone, but “soft infrastructure”: interoperability, data exchange, customs coordination, and the capacity of maritime systems to operate as coherent networks rather than disconnected national corridors.

At stake is not simply connectivity, but the transition from fragmented logistics spaces to integrated systems capable of reducing friction, increasing resilience, and transforming geography into coordinated economic intelligence. Read on the Eurasia Review.