Landlocked Ethiopia signed an initial agreement with Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland on Monday to use its Red Sea port of Berbera, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office said. The Horn of Africa country currently relies on neighbouring Djibouti for most of its maritime trade. President Abdi said as part of the agreement, Ethiopia would also be the first country to recognise Somaliland as an independent nation in due course. The MoU pave the way to allowing Ethiopia to have commercial marine operations in the region by giving it access to a leased military base on the Red Sea, Abiy's National Security Adviser Redwan Hussien said. Somalia's SONNA state media agency reported last week that following mediation efforts led by Djibouti, Somalia and Somaliland had agreed to resume talks aimed at resolving their disputes.

Source: Ethiopian News January 01, 2024 17:25 UTC