Why is Somalia so angry about Ethiopia’s new Red Sea port deal?
Al Jazeera
Ethiopia’s economy has struggled with no sea access, and an agreement to use a Somaliland port has upset its neighbour.
A deal under which Somaliland has agreed to lease a Red Sea naval port to Ethiopia has sparked anger in Somalia. Somaliland is a self-governing breakaway state that Somalia says is part of its own northern territory.
Mogadishu recalled its ambassador from Ethiopia on Tuesday to hold “deliberations” on the issue, stating that the port agreement signed a day earlier would increase tensions and endanger stability in the wider Horn of Africa region.
Feelings about the port agreement are already running high. Somalis took to the streets of Mogadishu to protest against the deal on Wednesday.
Signed in Addis Ababa by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland’s leader Muse Bihi Abdi, the agreement grants Ethiopia a 50-year lease on a naval base with access to Somaliland’s Berbera port for commercial marine operations.
In return, Ethiopia says it will provide an “in-depth assessment” of Somaliland’s quest for official recognition as an independent nation – the first time any other country has offered to do this. Somaliland will also receive a stake in state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, an Ethiopian government statement revealed, although details about this part of the agreement, especially regarding any additional monetary payment, are scant.
