Africa’s Red Sea states face growing risks as Houthi rebels expand their reach

The Houthi takeover of parts of the Red Sea gives the armed group a new platform to challenge global shipping .

The group has taken over the port of Mocha, the island of Mayyun, and the Zuqar and Hanish archipelago about 160km north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait .

These areas were previously controlled by Yemeni government forces.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a narrow maritime chokepoint roughly 32km wide.

Lying between the Arabian Peninsula to the north-east and the Horn of Africa to the south-west, it directly links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

This geography matters.

Mayyun Island, for example, divides a waterway that is used by international shipping .

Historically, this passage accounts for about 12% of global trade .

The African side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait hasn’t been taken over by the Houthis.

But the group’s September 2026 advance has serious economic and security implications for Egypt, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea, with the potential to escalate existing conflicts in Somalia and Sudan .

The Houthis are an Iran-aligned armed movement that controls much of Yemen, and has been fighting the country’s internationally recognised government since seizing the capital in 2014 .

I have studied global maritime geopolitics and security , including issues involving the Red Sea, for more than two decades.

In my view, the Houthi threat is not just a logistical one.

It also poses a strategic danger to Africa’s Red Sea states .