Landlocked Ethiopia is looking at Berbera rather than Djibouti as its primary port for exports and imports.
Abiy Ahmed, the country’s prime minister, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland to use its Red Sea port of Berbera.
Somaliland would in return get a share of state-owned Ethiopian Airlines.
What an incredibly sensible deal! Well done Ethopia, well done, Somaliland. Two sensible countries being sensible despite being having maniacs to right and left of them.
Somaliland is not an internationally recognized country, rather just a breakaway region of Somalia. Hence this agreement is not legal in the eyes of Somalia and the international community.
Perfectly correct. But let’s not re-start the Ogaden War which stuffed Somalia in the sixties and turned it from Africa’s brightest hope into the sad basket case that it became and has remained to this day.
My limited understanding of the issues here is that there isn’t much pressure to recognise Somaliland, not because the place doesn’t work – it does – but because nobody wants to re-open all the issues, and pragmatism is the order of the day.
Well articulated, couldn’t agree more! But the sad reality is this is a volatile region with too many ethnic tensions. Both countries are going through domestic crisis both politically and economically. Some even suggest this is just a distraction from all these mess. Ideally this plan would have greatly transformed both countries (Ethiopia& Somalia), but sadly that’s not the case. Hoping it won’t create another hot spot in the region, we shall wait and see. Your view on this topic is greatly appreciated. Thanks!