Somalia Weighs Indian Ocean Port Access for Neighboring Ethiopia

By Mohammed Omar Ahmed

Feb 28, 2025 (Bloomberg) —Somalia may grant landlocked Ethiopia access to a port on the Indian Ocean, a step that may help end a dispute between the neighboring nations over Addis Ababa’s quest to have a direct trade route to the sea.

The two nations are holding talks and aim to reach a framework agreement by June, Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs, Ali Mohamed Omar, said in an interview on Thursday with closely held Universal TV.

“That framework will determine which type of port to offer, the exact area in the Indian Ocean and the overall cost of it,” Omar said. His comments came after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud held talks in the capital, Mogadishu, with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Billene Seyoum, the press secretary for Ethiopia’s Office of Prime Minister and Nebiat Getachew, foreign affairs spokesman, didn’t respond to text messages seeking comment.

Somalia and Ethiopia have sought to deescalate tensions that ratcheted up in January 2024, when Abiy announced plans for an agreement with the self-governing region of Somaliland — territory over which Somalia claims sovereignty — for access to a port and a military base in the Gulf of Aden. In exchange, the enclave was promised an unspecified stake in Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s biggest carrier.

While Somaliland proclaimed its independence in 1991, it’s yet to be recognized by any other country. 

Abiy and Mohamud agreed to resolve their dispute by the end of this month, in an accord orchestrated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in December. In October, Somalia announced that Ankara-based Metag Holding was set to start construction of a port at the coastal town of Hobyo by the end of the year.

Ethiopia — sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest economy — has been landlocked since 1993, when Eritrea gained independence after a three-decade war, leaving it reliant on its neighbors’ ports.

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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