Eritrea has rejoined the East African bloc, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), nearly 16 years after it pulled out of the body, says Information Minister Yemane Meskel.
"Eritrea resumed its activity in IGAD and took its seat" at a summit organised by the seven-nation bloc in Djibouti on Monday, Meskel said on Twitter.
He said the country was ready to work towards "peace, stability, and regional integration."
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki told reporters during a visit to Kenya in February that his country would rejoin IGAD "with the idea of revitalising this regional organisation."
Border dispute
The state suspended its membership in IGAD in 2007 following a string of disagreements, including the bloc's decision to ask Kenya to resolve a border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia in 1993 and fought a two-year border war with its neighbour which poisoned relations until a peace agreement in 2018.
Isaias, 77, did not attend Monday's summit in Djibouti, sending Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and Presidential Adviser Yemane Ghebreab to the meeting instead.
Workneh Gebeyehu, executive secretary of IGAD, hailed Eritrea's return to the bloc, saying in an official statement: "Let me take this opportunity to welcome back the State of Eritrea to the IGAD family."
