somalia says the deal has no legal force and calls it a violation of its sovereignty. somaliland declared its independence from somalia in 1991 and has long sought international recognition. but the new deal with landlocked ethiopia risks undermining a 2018 agreement it has with somalia and eritrea. the 2018 joint declaration states that each country s territorial integrity is to be respected in the interests of regional peace and security. ethiopia says the new agreement with somaliland is beneficial to both parties but has been ambiguous on formally recognising the breakaway region as independent. meanwhile, east africa s trade bloc, the intergovernmental authority for development, is concerned over the ramifications of the deal. special envoy for the sahel region and atlantic council distinguished fellow ambassadorj peter pham for his thoughts.
in the international community is the surest way to get a houthi like instability on the other side of the gulf. just briefly, do you expect that more countries will follow ethiopia s lead here in recognising officially somaliland? i think the devil will be in the details of the recognition and how it comes about. i do think there s been a long wait of which is the first country to recognise somaliland. i don t think there ll be a scrum as to who will be the second. so, i think it s reality and it will happen sooner rather than later. we will watch to see what happens next, but for now, thanks for coming in to talk to us about that. former ambassador, peter pham, thank you. thank you. that s all from us. thank you for watching. that s all from us. thank you forwatching. 0ur that s all from us. thank you for watching. 0ur colleagues in london will be back with more headlines at the top of the hour. stay with us right here on bbc news.
no means of enforcing it. it s been more than three decades since somalia has exercised any authority whatsoever in somaliland. and others have invested in fact, the british international investment bi has invested close to $1 billion over several years in the second phase, which will be the port where this trade coming through to ethiopia will go through. so, in partnership with dubai ports world, so the international community is moving slowly to recognising this reality. there are concerns that this deal could destabilise the region. do you share that view? i don t because i don t think it could be more destabilised. we have in mogadishu a failed state with members, including a minister in the cabinet was a former wanted person in the us with a $5 million bounty on his head. what s happening in mogadishu is absent any achievement, absent any elections.