Deutsche Welle published on 2 January 2024 an article titled "Somalia Rejects Ethiopia Deal with Breakaway Somaliland."
Ethiopia and Somaliland, which declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognized by any government, agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding on 1 January that Ethiopia would obtain a 50-year lease to build a military base on 12 miles of Somaliland's Gulf of Aden coast and obtain access to its port of Berbera. In return, Ethiopia implied it would be the world's first government to recognize Somaliland.
The government of Somalia in Mogadishu, which claims Somaliland as part of its territory, rejected the deal on the grounds that Somaliland does not have the authority to make such a deal.
Comment: Much is not clear about this deal and many questions remain concerning the ability of Ethiopia and Somaliland to implement it. The deal appears to have more to do with the establishment of an Ethiopian naval base in the Gulf of Aden than shifting its imports and exports from the port of Djibouti to Berbera. The transport infrastructure between Djibouti and Addis Ababa is much more developed than that between Berbera and Addis Ababa.
