Ethiopia and Somalia reached a peaceful agreement on Wednesday, December 11th, 2024, marking a historical end to their year-long feud.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud were seen holding hands, signalling an end to their disagreement over Ethiopia’s alliance with Somaliland.
The disagreement? Ethiopia is by far the world’s most populous landlocked country. On January 1st, Ethiopia signed a maritime deal with Somaliland. In the deal, Somaliland agreed to lease part of its coastline to landlocked neighbor Ethiopia.
Somalia was not happy with this. The reason? Somalia still considers Somaliland, which broke away from it in 1991, a part of its territory. As such, the deal was unlawful. Reports suggested that in return for the use of the port, Ethiopia would become the first country to regard Somaliland as a sovereign state.
This obviously raised tensions in the Horn of Africa with Egypt backing Somalia- mainly because of its anger with Ethiopia building a dam on River Nile.
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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyib Erdogan emerged from the buildup of tension as a mediator in what could have led to a civil war.
Turkey has become an important geopolitical player in East Africa over the years, as it has close economic ties with Addis Ababa and security deals with Mogadishu.
Now, Wednesday’s announcement, which was made in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, brought together the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, who both agreed to respect the sovereignty of both countries.
While President Mohamud expressed readiness to work with the Ethiopian leadership and the Ethiopian people, Prime Minister Abiy insisted that Ethiopia’s efforts to secure reliable access to the sea did not threaten Somalia.
Turkey President Recep Tayyib said the agreement was “the first step towards a new beginning”.
It is, however, not clear if Ethiopia has discarded the deal it signed with Somaliland- a demand by Somalia at earlier mediation efforts.
According to the joint declaration in Ankara, the two Horn of Africa neighbors are to reconvene in February to hold “technical talks”.
In the meantime, they will each strive to reach “mutually beneficial commercial arrangements” to ensure Ethiopia gains access to the sea “under Somalia’s sovereignty”.
