In 2024, Ethiopia signed a deal with Somaliland's President Muse Bihi Abdi, granting the landlocked country direct commercial and military access to the Red Sea. Somaliland agreed to lease a military port in the Gulf of Aden and 20 kilometers of Somaliland's coastline to Ethiopia for 50 years, in return for Somaliland's formal recognition as a sovereign state and a portion of Ethiopian Airlines' shares.
With Washington focused on the threat to international shipping from Yemen, trouble is brewing on the other side of the Red Sea as well. On Jan. 1, 2024,
Landlocked Ethiopia wants a port, any port. Somaliland has a coastline and wants someone to recognise the self-governing territory as a fully-fledged country. S
Peaceful and democratic Somaliland is considered the better Somalia, although no country has yet recognized the de facto state. This could now change thanks to an explosive agreement with Ethiopia.