According to authorities in Addis Ababa, a “historic” agreement has been signed between Somaliland and Ethiopia to secure its access to the sea and “diversify its access to seaports.” The agreement in question allows Ethiopia to acquire part of the port of Berbera (which leads to the Suez Canal) on the edge of the Red Sea.
Published on: 01/01/2024 – 10:06 p.m
3 mins
Ethiopia and Somaliland have signed a “historic” agreement that will allow Ethiopia access to the sea through a port in the territory of this separatist region of Somalia, authorities announced on Monday, January 1. 'Addis Ababa.
The agreement “will pave the way for the realization of Ethiopia's aspirations to secure its access to the sea and diversify its access to seaports,” said a statement from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office on X. It also strengthens their security, economic and political partnership,” it also says and names the two signatories.
The “historic” Memorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland was signed in Addis Ababa by Abiy Ahmed and separatist region leader Muse Bihi Abdi, the Ethiopian Prime Minister's Office added.
It allows Ethiopia to acquire an unspecified share in the port of Berbera on the edge of the Red Sea, a few months after Abiy Ahmed said his country needed to consolidate its right to access that sea, which had raised concerns in the region.
Berbera is an African port on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, at the entrance to the Red Sea leading to the Suez Canal.
Somaliland is a de facto independent nation in the Horn of Africa that no one really recognizes, even though it is better than (the rest?) Somalia in every way. Somaliland has potential that India 🇮🇳 cannot miss, 🇮🇳 was too late to woo Djibouti.
Somaliland's Berbera Port, 1/2 pic.twitter.com/raabybJb4q– Adithya Krishna Menon (@AdithyaKM_) January 1, 2024
“A step forward in the right direction”
Redwan Hussein, Abiy Ahmed's national security adviser, also told X that Ethiopia would be given access to a rented military base on the Red Sea. “A step forward in the right direction for this generation and generations to come,” he wrote on X, without specifying when the agreement would come into force.
Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, had no access to the sea of its own after Eritrea gained independence in 1993 following a long conflict. It had access to an Eritrean port until the two countries went to war in 1998-2000, and since then Ethiopia has conducted most of its trade through Djibouti.
According to DP World, a company that manages the operation of this port in Somaliland, Addis Ababa had already acquired 19% of the port of Berbera in 2018. It owns 51% and Somaliland owns the remaining 30%.
Somaliland, a former British territory, unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991 as the country plunged into chaos from which it has not emerged to this day. Although Somaliland, with a population of 4.5 million, has its own institutions and issues currency, its independence has never been recognized by the international community.
With AFP