By Henok Teshome – “City diplomacy” sometimes referred to as municipal diplomacy, is the practice of diplomacy and international relations by subnational governments. It is a process through which cities engage on foreign policy issues and interact with various actors on the international stage to advance or voice their own interests.
The history of diplomatic engagement by sub-national entities can be traced back centuries ago when city states in ancient Greek and Italy do businesses and negotiations by sending representatives and emissaries in between themselves. This clearly indicates, city diplomacy indeed existed well before Westphalia treaty – pact infamously known to end the thirty years war in Europe and consequentially for the emergence of modern diplomacy – was effected.
This historic moment marked the emergence of international system which is entirely dominated by states. Lately however, multiple actors began to appear in the international politics. Despite its existence, it wasn’t until the late 1990s that city diplomacy started to capture more attention and revived its vital role in the international arena. This was mainly because of two major factors: the onset of globalization and decentralization in the international politics. Alongside the more traditional form of diplomacy which is dominated by state-to-state relations, city diplomacy is now credited by many as an alternative channel for diplomatic engagement where mayors and sub-national governments play crucial role in the international political landscape.
The ever growing threat posed by emerging global issues such as terrorism, climate change, migration, crime, drug and human trafficking mainly necessitate strong cooperation among cities and subnational governments. The first recorded city twinning agreement according to one researcher was between Keighley in Yorkshire, United Kingdom and Poix-du-Nord, France following the end of the First World War, marking the beginning of the history of city diplomacy (Xiaoxi, 2019).
In conjunction with many other actors, cities currently stand in the middle of the park where they play crucial roles in diplomacy and international politics. City diplomacy in fact takes many different dimensions and forms when it is practiced on the ground. Empirical findings show that, although more could be identified, there are six dimensions of city diplomacy. Most often, security, development, economic, cultural, cooperative and representation dimensions are referred in literatures. However, some other researchers staunchly criticize this construct for its failure to put forward the criterion used for such classification. They mention the blurred distinction between dimensions of city diplomacy and its form a reason, hence describing five of them: security, development, economy, culture and politics as appropriate dimensions.
Addis Ababa in the Fabric of City Diplomacy
Few years ago, most international spectators saw Addis Ababa as no more than a seat for African Union and few other international organizations. This left many in hesitation to believe Addis Ababa’s suitability given the fact that the city doomed underdeveloped and lacked the essential ingredients needed for transpassing thresholds and expectations many hope to witness.
At the wake of political and socioeconomic transition that took place in 2018, Addis Ababa seized that opportunity blissfully and immersed itself deep into international politics aware of the growing importance of city diplomacy. The leadership at city’s higher echelon heavily invested tremendous amount of time and resources to help propel the city towards its goals. The motive behind was clear, to change the entire image of the city and ease the skepticisms surrounding.
Perhaps, one of the backbones of achieving this bold vision revolves around city-to-city cooperation and partnership initiatives. Addis Ababa rapidly transformed into something special because of the various strategies implemented and practical experience gained from other world cities. The ongoing massive mega projects, the river side and corridor development initiatives all together is changing the face of Addis Ababa elevating the capital to a vibrant, prosperous and smart city. Thanks to such ambitious dream and achievement, Addis Ababa now sharply enhanced its global picture and proudly takes applause as trailblazer in all frontiers particularly city diplomacy.
Reimaging the City through Global Partnership
City twinning initiative is one of the most crucial aspect through which Addis Ababa conducts city diplomacy. As of today, there are approximately 32 major cities from around the world that formally established sister city relationship with Addis Ababa. What is so special about these relationships is the geographic diversity and regional makeup of the cities that definitely opened the door for Addis Ababa to expose itself to different cultures. Significant numbers of these cities are located in Africa and Asia. North America, the Middle East and European cities account relatively lesser proportion. Out of the total number of Addis Ababa’ sister cities seven are from China, making the Southeast Asian giant the only country to form multiple partnership agreement with the capital.
The dimensional sphere of Addis’ sister city relationship cut across many aspects. The dominant one include: culture, education, health, education, infrastructure, tourism and environment initiatives. Few revolve around historic ground such as the likes of ‘Addis Ababa – Chuncheon’ sister city relationship which trace its foundation back to Korean War. Addis Ababa and Chuncheon formally agreed to establish sister city relationship in 2004 and their friendship still stands firm and unwavering today. Their relationship mainly focuses on cultural and educational exchange initiatives.
Addis Ababa upgraded most of its twin city initiatives to a strategic level. This makes a bold statement to the international community about Addis Ababa’s desire to reorient its global position. In a significant move that saw shift in strategy, Addis Ababa forged new partnership agreement with Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. The agreement signed between the two cities signals Addis Ababa’s renewed global ambition to make alliance with major cities located inside Tiger Club economies in Asia.
Beside the symbolic significances, Addis Ababa’s twin city initiative aims at solidifying global identity by using various diplomatic tools. One of the most essential set of diplomatic tools used in this regard is to create physical spaces, parks and naming streets. The typical example to this was ‘Addis Ababa – Leipzig’ twin city partnership.
Since the official launch of their partnership in 2004, both cities carried out multiple projects. Furthermore, the city of Leipzig named a square ‘Addis Ababa Square’ and unveiled a permanent structure, underlining the close ties between the two cities. The city administration also took a significant step towards strengthening bilateral cooperation with major cities in the Western hemisphere. Obviously, this will bring symmetrical effect on the overall process of Addis Ababa’s foreign affairs engagement.
Sister city agreement signed between Addis Ababa and Washington D.C. is a particular testimony which reflects Addis Ababa’s well articulated engagement strategy. The agreement which was initially signed back in 2013 reaffirms Addis Ababa’s push for unlocking geographic barriers and creating formidable global influence.
Another example of an impactful sister city agreement is between Addis Ababa – Kigali, which adds new impetus for enhancing the pan-African spirit and speeding up regional integration efforts. The agreement is rooted in the shared vision of both cities to collaborate in multi-sectoral urban development initiatives, people-to-people exchange, technology and knowledge transfer programs. Currently, Addis Ababa built strong relationship with 10 other major cities across Africa. By having myriad of sister-city networks and relationships with African cities, Addis Ababa can position itself a center figure and force multiplier in promoting regional integration.
International City Networks: Place where Cities Shape their Future
One of the acute challenges currently unfolding across most cities is climate change. More than 70 percent of greenhouse gases released outward to the environment come from cities, making urban climate intervention so crucial. As a responsible global actor, Addis Ababa finds itself on the front line to confront climate crises.
This was manifested through Addis Ababa’s engagement in multilateral city diplomacy frameworks. A clear example is C40 Cities platform – a global network of 100 cities – setup primarily to help cities move faster on their climate mitigation and adaptation goals. The flagship ‘Corridor and River-side Development project’ is one among other things that was developed to help the city meet its climate ambitions. The project was implemented by taking sustainable mobility strategy – one of the four strategic pillars under C40 cities – into consideration.
The corridor development program encompasses a total area of 5414 hectare. Under this initiative, approximately 350 km walkways and 240 km new bicycle lanes including 29 EV charging stations were constructed. There is no doubt about the projects having massive implications citywide. This bold action not only revitalize the ecosystem, but also recalibrate the city’s image and global position.
In the last couple of years, Addis Ababa’s engagement in multilateral diplomacy platforms saw rapid surge. The city become a member of global networks such as the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), and the School Meals Coalition, among others. Addis Ababa also collaborates with profound philanthropic organizations including Bloomberg and Big Win Philanthropies.
For instance, on the first-ever global summit of School Meals Coalition held in Paris, Addis Ababa received international recognition for the City’s exemplary achievement in implementing the School Feeding Program. In addition, the city was named the winner of C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Award in recognition for the impressive efforts made to improve waste management system. In August 2025, the city was also honored as a gold winner in the inaugural Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative for Global Roads Safety Speed Challenge.
The award came after Addis Ababa’s successful implementation of road safety project that saw great reduction in road accident and fatality throughout the city. In another profound effort, Addis Ababa was selected as one among 50 other global winners in the 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge. The city is now officially recognized as an ideal place where other cities can learn from. The platform offered unparalleled opportunity for the city to share experience, best practice and success stories amongst city officials and representatives. These exemplary achievements and international applauds underscore that international city networks can be a vital ground to cement actual and tangible influence globally.
Future of city diplomacy: Pathways for Success
In the past, city diplomacy has been left neglected amid loosely prioritized foreign policy goals. Ethiopia’s foreign policy, under the previous EPRDF government, widely overlooked the role of cities and subnational governments in foreign affairs rendering ineffective performance in projecting global influence.
This was partly the result of ill conceived policy that favor a hardliner power-politics instead of soft power strategy. The underlining inconsistency in foreign policy decisions ultimately resulted in misconception amongst international spectators about the true picture of country. Under the current leadership however, Ethiopia’s foreign policy saw complete readjustment and redefinition, hence significantly shifting the tied in favor of soft power diplomacy. This paradigmatic shift infact unlocks unseen opportunities for the capital to futher engage in foreign affairs and practice city diplomacy.
Leveraging Capacity for Conference Tourism: Against all the odds, the future looks bright both for the city and its residents especially when we look at the real impacts city diplomacy has brought. Addis ababa now proudly stands as a premiere venue for continental and international summits. Recent statistics indicate a staggering number of international conferences, events and global summits being convened in the capital. These gatherings not only inject capital into the economy, but also elevate Addis Ababa’s global stature as a preferred destination for diplomats, tourists and investors.
Building Institutional Capacity: The practice of city diplomacy requires strong institutional arrangement and coordination across departments. Without this, it was unthinkable to effectively engage in the intricacies of international relations. Moreover, the pratice of city diplomacy needs professional staffs with sufficient knowledge and training in the field. Given the severity of cross-cutting global challenges and the growing sophistication of international relations, the city administration must take leading role to further professionalise the diplomatic practice and build institutional capacity.
Unlocking Smart-City potential through Global Networks: International city networks facilitates digital transformation and smart city development through the exchange of practices and experiences. The platform offers unique opportunity for Addis Ababa to harness the benefits in terms of knowledge and technology transfer. Smart city initiative demands massive technological infrastructure and construction of big data centers among others. To address this issue, the city need to strengthen cooperation with other cities. Hence, partnership under multilateral global forums provide special advantage to circumnavigate opportunities, exchange best practices and IT solutions.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The writer, Henok Teshome, is International Relations Specialist at Addis Ababa City Mayor Office.
