The port of Berbera in Somaliland offers Ethiopia access to the Red Sea and further north the Suez canalAdvertising Read moreThe deal on Somaliland's Berbera port comes months after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his country, Africa's second most populous, would assert its right to access the Red Sea, sparking concerns among its neighbours. The agreement "shall pave the way to realise the aspiration of Ethiopia to secure access to the sea and diversify its access to seaport," his office posted on X. Abiy's national security adviser Redwan Hussein said Ethiopia would have access to a leased military base on the Red Sea as part of the agreement. Regional tensionsIn a televised speech last October, Abiy had said that Ethiopia "is a nation whose existence was tied to the Red Sea" and that it needed access to a port. In 2018, Ethiopia acquired a 19 percent stake in the Berbera port, according to Dubai-based DP World, which manages the port's operations.

Source: Ethiopian News January 01, 2024 17:08 UTC