Ethiopia signed an agreement on January 1, 2024, granting it naval and commercial access to ports along the Somaliland coast, in exchange for recognizing the separatist republic’s independence. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said the memorandum of understanding on partnership and cooperation between Ethiopia and Somaliland is intended to serve as a framework for multi-sector partnership between the two parties.
Landlocked Ethiopia has taken its first steps towards access to the sea, signing an agreement in the capital Addis Ababa on January 1, 2024 with the Somali breakaway region of Somaliland to access the Somaliland coast. The meeting between Ethiopia and Somaliland took place a few days after Somalia and Somaliland announced a breakthrough in talks in Djibouti, pledging to continue dialogue between their respective capitals. The MoU was signed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi. As part of the agreement, Somaliland plans to lease a 20 km strip of land along its coastline to Ethiopia to establish a marine forces base. According to a press release from the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s office, the agreement strengthens the security, economic and political partnership between Ethiopia and Somaliland, among other things.
“This will be the starting point of our cooperation with the brotherly people of Somaliland to grow and develop together in cooperation and to ensure our common security.”
Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister – Ethiopia
According to Somaliland’s president, the agreement included a declaration that Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland as an independent country in the near future. Somaliland seceded from Somalia over 30 years ago, but is not recognized by the African Union or the United Nations as an independent state.
“We are very happy and we thank the Ethiopian prime minister as we sign this agreement here. We then allow them 20 kilometres of our sea borders and they become the first State to recognise Somaliland after the signing of this memorandum of understanding.”
Muse Bihi, President – Somaliland
Ethiopia, a country of 120 million inhabitants, is heavily dependent on Djibouti for international trade, since it lost its access to the Red sea when Eritrea seceded in 1993. According to official figures, more than 95% of its trade passes through the Addis-Djibouti corridor, a vulnerability it has sought to mitigate by diversifying its options.