Red Sea Shipping Risk: The Houthis’ push to control Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including Perim and Mocha, is raising Bab el-Mandeb risk and war-risk premiums that ripple into Djibouti’s logistics role and Ethiopia’s corridor costs. Djibouti Humanitarian Pressure: Djibouti appealed at the UN for more help as thousands of Yemenis arrive, warning host communities and the Markazi camp in Obock are under strain. Energy Infrastructure (Djibouti–Ethiopia): Aliko Dangote is backing a $660m refined-fuel pipeline linking Damerjog port to Dewele, with storage and a plan to cut fuel delivery time to Addis Ababa from five days to one. Regional Energy Hub Build: Djibouti also started a Damerjog energy hub terminal with 375,000 m³ storage and up to 5m tonnes/year processing capacity to strengthen supply for Ethiopia. Ethiopia Integration Push: Ethiopia used the HoAI ministerial meeting to stress trade facilitation and energy cooperation, pointing to the Ethio-Djibouti pipeline as a key logistics-cost reducer. EU Naval Gap: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged more warships for EUNAVFOR Aspides as assessments say the mission needs over ten vessels to match the threat near Bab el-Mandeb. Tech & Security Angle: Africom is leaning into AI and unmanned tech to “do more with less,” including using commercial vessel and sensor data to spot illicit maritime activity.