UAE’s imperial pivot hits African wall: Riyadh pulls the rug
Aidan J. Simardone, The Cradle, February 3, 2026 —
As Abu Dhabi’s ambitions unravel across the continent, Riyadh-backed alliances are kicking the Persian Gulf minnow out of Africa and seizing its war economy in the process.
For years, the UAE threw money, weapons, and manpower into Africa, chasing a fantasy of empire it had no business pursuing. From Red Sea ports to gold mines to mercenary armies and client militias, Abu Dhabi bankrolled it all. But its imperial swagger met resistance. And now, one by one, African nations are slamming the door on Emirati interference.
What triggered this dramatic reversal? The same thing that triggered its humiliation in Yemen: a clash with its former Gulf partner. When UAE-backed forces in Yemen attacked Saudi allies, Riyadh retaliated forcefully. It not only pushed Abu Dhabi out of Yemen but also quietly moved to undermine its hold in Africa, too.
The Red Sea chokehold crumbles
With the decline of western hegemony, Africa has reached out to other countries, such as China, Russia and Turkiye. Jumping on this opportunity, the UAE invested in East Africa to secure the Red Sea and support its war in Yemen.
Ports or bases were built in Doraleh, Djibouti; Assab and Massawa, Eritrea; Barawe and Berbera, Somaliland; Bosaso, Kismayo, and Mogadishu, Somalia. Some locations were for commercial purposes, while others were central to wars across the region.
Assab Port, for instance, became a major logistic hub, with Eritrea providing 400 troops to the UAE – a force that proved decisive on the battlefield. In Mogadishu, the UAE provided training to Somali troops to fight the extremist Al-Shabaab militia.
But cracks were already appearing. In 2017, Somalia–UAE relations soured during the diplomatic war between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The UAE sided with the Saudis, but Somalia remained neutral since its closest ally, Turkiye, supported Doha.
In 2018, things worsened when the UAE signed a deal with Somaliland, a breakaway region that Somalia claims as its territory. In response, Somalia halted all military cooperation with the UAE. But its reach was limited, with regions like Puntland and Somaliland ignoring the federal government’s decree.
That same year, Djibouti reclaimed the UAE-operated Port of Doraleh, accusing Abu Dhabi of bribing officials. But the real reason was the UAE’s undue pressure on Djibouti to open a military base and its construction of a port in Somaliland that would undercut Djibouti’s competitiveness. Three years later, Eritrea followed suit, dismantling some of the UAE’s military bases.
Still, Abu Dhabi stayed. It expanded its presence in Somalia and kept strategic sites in Eritrea operational – enough, according to EmiratesLeaks, to assist Israel during Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – which began on 7 October 2023 – if needed.
That endurance is now collapsing. In January, Somalia expelled the UAE from territories even beyond Mogadishu’s control – Puntland and Somaliland. The UAE complied, a retreat that stunned observers. But the move was not Somali muscle alone; it was backed by Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh is now building a military axis with Egypt and Somalia. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has “fully aligned” Cairo with Saudi efforts to sideline the UAE in Sudan and Yemen. This comes after Egypt refused in December 2025 to sell a stake of its port in Alexandria to the UAE. Libya’s Khalifa Haftar-led army is under pressure to sever ties with Abu Dhabi. And Djibouti, fresh off a legal win against the UAE, handed port operations to Egypt.
Even Eritrea, once a steadfast partner, is turning. President Isaias Afwerki accuses the UAE of being the “primary destabilizing actor” in Sudan. And Saudi Arabia is pledging $1 billion to rehabilitate Assab Port – the very port Abu Dhabi once dominated. Just last month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) and Afwerki met in Riyadh.