Somalia may grant its landlocked neighbor Ethiopia access to an Indian Ocean port, a move that could help end a dispute ignited by Addis Ababa’s push for a direct trade route to the sea, Ashraq Business reported on Friday.
Both countries are in talks to reach a framework agreement on the matter by June, Somalia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Mohamed Omar told Universal TV on Thursday.
“This framework agreement will determine the type of port that will be made available, the specific area on the Indian Ocean, and the total cost of the project,” he added.
His comments came after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the capital, Mogadishu.
The press secretary for the Ethiopian prime minister’s office, Bellene Seyoum, and the spokesperson for the Ethiopian foreign ministry, Nebiat Getachew, did not respond to text messages seeking comment.
Easing tensions
Somalia and Ethiopia have sought to ease tensions that escalated in January 2024, when Abiy Ahmed announced plans for a deal with the autonomous region of Somaliland (which Somalia claims sovereignty over) to gain access to a seaport and a military base on the Gulf of Aden.
In return, Somaliland was to receive an unspecified stake in Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest airline.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brokered an agreement between Abiy and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in December to resolve the dispute by the end of the month.
In October, Somalia announced that Ankara-based Turkish company Metag Holding would begin building a port in the coastal city of Hobyo by the end of the year.
Ethiopia, the third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, has been landlocked since 1993, when Eritrea gained independence after a nearly 30-year war, leaving it dependent on its neighbors’ ports.
Although Somaliland declared independence in 1991, it has not yet received formal recognition from any nation.
