The historic Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland is a triumph of Ethiopian diplomacy that will unlock the country’s geo-economic potential and pre-emptively avert future problems connected to its landlocked status, according to an American political analyst.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Muse Bihi Abdi signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding in Addis Ababa before two days.
The MoU will pave the way to realize the aspiration of Ethiopia to secure access to the sea and diversify its access to seaports as well as strengthen security, economic and political partnership.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, the political analyst Andrew Korybko said ‘this is a triumph of Ethiopian diplomacy, which will unlock the country’s geo-economic potential and preemptively avert future problems connected to its landlocked status.’
The agreement will also presumably offer the country better terms than its existing one, he added.
Moreover, the American analyst noted that the p
hysical re-establishment of the Ethiopian Navy will enable the country to secure the maritime logistics upon which its domestic stability directly depends, thus stabilizing the region as well.
Furthermore,’Somaliland will profit from its role in facilitating Ethiopia’s global trade, which will likely be conducted through the modernized port of Berbera with time.’
In this way, the three neighbors (Somaliland, Djibouti and Ethiopia) can pioneer a new connectivity corridor in the Horn of Africa that will likely attract more foreign investment into the region, according to Korybko.
The analyst recalled that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed proposed late last year that his country could swap stakes in some of its national companies in exchange for a preferential port deal that would also enable it to re-establish the Ethiopian Navy.
He believes that this was a pragmatic solution to Ethiopia’s maritime aspiration that Somaliland wisely agreed to.
‘Hopefully others will also be inspired by the example (of the Ethio-So
maliland agreement) to explore their own similar such deals with Ethiopia in the coming future to maximally optimize regional connectivity and thus attract more foreign investment,’ Korybko underscored.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency