Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's stated ambition to secure access to the Red Sea is a source of tension between the Horn of Africa nation and its neighbors. In Somalia, Turkish nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and companies are extensively active in education, energy and finance. Since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the country in 2011, Türkiye has built an 80,000-square-meter (861,112-square-foot) embassy in Mogadishu, its biggest embassy in Africa. After the port deal was announced, Türkiye, Egypt and other allies pledged their support for Somalia. The separation resulted in Ethiopia losing direct access to the Red Sea and key ports.
