Ethiopia on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, to gain access to the Red Sea in exchange for a stake in its flagship carrier Ethiopian Airlines.
The Horn of Africa country currently relies on
neighboring Djibouti for most of its maritime trade.
"This has been now agreed with our Somaliland
brothers and an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) has been signed today,"
Abiy said at the signing ceremony with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi in
the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
According to Redwan Hussien, Abiy's National Security
Advisor, the Memorandum of Understanding opens Ethiopia's door to conducting
commercial marine operations in the area by granting it access to a leased
military facility on the Red Sea.
He stated, without giving any more information, that
Somaliland will receive a portion of the publicly traded Ethiopian Airlines in
exchange.
Even though Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991, it has not received much international recognition. Somaliland is a part of Somalia, according to Somalia.
Somalia's SONNA state media agency reported last week
that following mediation efforts led by Djibouti, Somalia and Somaliland had
agreed to resume talks aimed at resolving their disputes.
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