Landlocked Ethiopia has signed an initial agreement with Somaliland to use its Red Sea port of Berbera, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office says. This is the first legal step for the country to gain access to the sea.
The leaders signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Somaliland to use one of its ports. “This has now been agreed upon with our Somaliland brothers, and an MoU has been signed today,” Abiy said at the signing ceremony with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia described the deal as “historic,” adding that it “shall pave the way to realize the aspiration of Ethiopia to secure access to the sea and diversify its access to seaports.”.
Ethiopia lost its access to the sea when Eritrea seceded in the early 1990s. With more than 100 million people, it is the most populous landlocked country in the world. Up to now, Ethiopia has been using the port in neighboring Djibouti for the vast majority of its imports and exports.
In 2018, Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a deal that should have led to Addis Ababa owning a 19% stake in the port of Berbera, with the Emirati logistics company DP World holding a 51% share.
But this fell through in 2022 as “Ethiopia failed to meet the conditions needed to acquire the stake before the deadline,” the authorities in Somaliland reportedly said at the time.
The agreement paves the way for Ethiopia to have commercial marine operations in the region by giving it access to a leased military base on the Red Sea. Although details of Monday’s agreement with Somaliland have not been made public, a statement from Mr. Abiy’s office said it would “pave the way to realize the aspiration of Ethiopia to secure access to the sea.”.
Speaking at the signing, Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi Abdi said the agreement included a section stating that Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland as an independent country at some point in the future. Somaliland seceded from Somalia more than 30 years ago but is not recognized by the African Union (AU) or the UN as an independent state.
