By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities in Djibouti have moved to defuse the diplomatic row between Ethiopia and Somalia by offering its new port to the former with a proposal for joint management of the facility.
The port of Tadjoura is about 100 kilometers from the border with Ethiopia which Djibouti says it is ready to allow Ethiopia access to.
“Djibouti is even ready to hand over a new port, a brand-new port that has been built, a brand-new corridor to the northern border of Djibouti, that corridor will be very helpful to Ethiopia, at least to decrease the cost of transport,” Djibouti Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told VOA.
“Djibouti is even ready to consider a mix-management of the port with Ethiopia,” he added.
Heritage Times HT reports that since the beginning of the year, Ethiopia and Somalia have had a frosty relations.
This came after Ethiopia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the breakaway region of Somaliland, a deal Somalia sees as an infringement to its sovereignty.
Under the deal, Somaliland would lease 20 kilometers of shoreline to Ethiopia in return for recognition as an independent country, Somaliland officials say.
According to the Foreign Minister, at the moment, Ethiopia depends on Djibouti’s main port to import most of its goods, using four different terminals.
Turkey has brokered talks between Ethiopia and Somalia but after two meetings, no agreement was reached.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Taye Atske Selassie however expressed confidence that “Ethiopia’s legitimate interests to secure dependable access to and from the sea will be fulfilled peacefully in cooperation with our neighbors,” apparently in reference to the breakaway Somaliland.
Somalia is willing to accept giving commercial sea access to Ethiopia but rules out any naval base, said Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
“If Ethiopia wants access to Somalia sea, we welcome it. But we want Ethiopia to have access the same way that Uganda has access to Kenya sea, the same way that Burundi and Rwanda have access to Tanzania sea … and the same way Ethiopia has access to Djibouti sea,” he said.
“We are not accepting anything beyond that,” he added.
Youssouf said Djibouti put the port proposal on the table a month ago and informed Ethiopian leaders, who responded.
“The response we get is a positive one, so they are considering the technicalities of it, so we will certainly in a few days’ time or in [a] few weeks, sit down again and put the final adjustments to the formula and see how we can help,” he said.
Heritage Times HT reports that Djibouti is a small Horn of Africa country in a strategic maritime location. It hosts military bases for France, the United States, Italy, Japan and China.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate, is considered a territory in Somalia.
After the surprise deal with Ethiopia January this year, Somalia vowed to defend its territory by “all legal means”.
The deal gives landlocked Ethiopia long-desired access to the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.
Somaliland which proclaimed its independence since 1991 not recognised internationally.
During the signing of the MoU Addis Ababa, the breakaway territory said Ethiopia is the first to recognize it as a sovereign nation.
