Ethiopia and Somaliland reach agreement over access to ports

The meeting between Ethiopia and Somaliland came days after Somalia and Somaliland announced a breakthrough in talks in Djibouti, committing to further dialogue between their respective capitals.

Abdikarim Hussein Guled, Somalia’s special envoy to Somaliland, said the deal constituted a “blatant disregard for international norms” by Ethiopia and undermines progress made between Hargeisa and Mogadishu. Somalia’s former president Mohamed Farmaajo posted on X: “The agreement signed by Ethiopia with Somaliland today is a serious concern for Somalia and the whole of Africa.”

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in the early 1990s, when Somalia had descended into a protracted civil war. Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, has been actively seeking international recognition for more than three decades, within the borders of the former British protectorate. Formal recognition by Ethiopia would present Somaliland with its biggest opportunity yet to begin overcoming its international isolation.

Ethiopia lost access to its Red Sea ports in the early 1990s when Eritrean insurgents in the country’s north gained control of Ethiopia’s northern coastal region – which was a former Italian colony – and then declared independence.

Ethiopia is heavily reliant on Djibouti for international trade, with more than 95% passing through the Addis-Djibouti corridor, a vulnerability it has sought to mitigate by diversifying its options. Ethiopia has been signalling its interest in acquiring access to ports along east Africa’s seaboard since October, and said it would assert its rights, raising concern among its neighbours.

In a televised address, Abiy said Ethiopia should have a say in the use of the Red Sea ports of its coastal neighbours, just as countries downstream along the Nile River have been allowed to negotiate use of the river that Ethiopia has built a dam across to generate power.