Djibouti’s government plans to offer Ethiopia exclusive access to a new port to defuse tensions sparked by the landlocked nation’s ambitions to have a direct route to the sea and to undermine Somaliland’s aspirations for international recognition.
Ethiopia triggered a diplomatic row in January when it unveiled a proposal to recognize of Somaliland as a sovereign nation, in return for access to a harbor on the Gulf of Aden. Somalia, which regards Somaliland as part of its territory, opposed the plan, and relations between the two countries have deteriorated since then.
Djibouti’s dictatorial government, which has been actively obstructing Somaliland’s quest for recognition since its independence from Somalia in 1991, may be motivated by regional power dynamics and its own sovereignty concerns. By providing Ethiopia with an alternative port, Djibouti also aims to redirect Ethiopia’s attention from Somaliland, hindering its recognition efforts.
Djibouti, which shares borders with both Ethiopia and Somaliland, is “on the verge of proposing” to Ethiopia an alternative route to the Gulf of Aden, Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said in an interview with the BBC, broadcast on Friday.
“We are offering 100% management for a port in the north, a new corridor that is already built” in Tadjoura on the Horn of Africa nation’s coast, he said. Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh came up with the proposal to “find a way for dialogue” to stop an escalation in tensions in the Horn of Africa region, he said.
Somalia has responded to the standoff with Ethiopia by signing a military cooperation pact earlier this month. Egypt has subsequently begun supplying arms to Somalia and will provide training to its troops, according to the Somali government.
Egypt has tense relations with Ethiopia over that country’s construction of a giant hydropower dam on a tributary of the Nile River. The authorities in Cairo are concerned that the Ethiopian reservoir risks reducing the flow of the Nile, on which Egypt depends for almost all of its fresh water.
Djibouti, situated on a global shipping chokepoint that links the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, is concerned about growing tensions in the region, Youssouf said.
“Although Djibouti is a stable country, quite safe, we cannot say that tensions in the neighboring countries do not affect us,” he said. It would be a “major source of concern” if the crisis in the region escalates further, the minister said.
This move also serves to protect Djibouti’s own interests by preventing the rise of Somaliland as a competing port hub. Djibouti’s economy is heavily reliant on port revenues, and any development that could divert maritime traffic away from Djibouti poses a significant threat to its economic stability.
Djiboutian leader Guelleh plans to meet regional leaders at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that takes place in Beijing next week to discuss the issue, Youssouf said.
Ethiopia would be the first country to recognize Somaliland as a sovereign state.
Somaliland warned on Thursday that the military assistance that’s being provided by Egypt to Somalia risks destabilizing the region, and may have “far-reaching and catastrophic consequences.”
“We call upon the international community to urgently condemn this potentially dangerous move by Egypt,” it said in a statement.
