Leaders of African bloc to discuss Ethiopia-Somalia sea deal row, Sudan fighting

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – The heads of state of an African bloc will meet on Jan. 18 to discuss the worsening diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Somalia over a disputed sea access deal, and the ongoing fighting in Sudan.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni will host the “extraordinary” Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) summit, according to a statement issued late Thursday by the current chairman of the bloc, Ismail Omar Guelleh who is also the president of Djibouti.

“His Excellency Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti, in his capacity as Current Chair of IGAD has the honour to convene an Extraordinary IGAD Summit on two main issues that are the ongoing situation between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Federal Republic of Somalia and the situation in the Republic of Sudan,” said a statement issued by the Djibouti Foreign Ministry.

It requested the regional bloc’s Secretariat in Djibouti to make “necessary consultations with member states for their attendance.”

The leaders of the Eastern Africa bloc held a summit earlier last month in Djibouti to discuss the Sudan conflict that has been raging in the country since Apr. 15, 2023.

The IGAD region has seen growing tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia after Addis Ababa signed a sea access agreement with Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland on Jan. 1 without the approval of Mogadishu.

Ethiopia has been working to strengthen its relationship with the Horn of Africa countries to ensure that over 120 million citizens have access to the sea.

Somalia has rejected Ethiopia's Red Sea port deal with Somaliland, calling it “illegitimate,” a threat to good neighborliness, and a violation of its sovereignty. It also recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia after the deal was signed.

The Ethiopian government has defended its decision to sign the deal and said the agreement with Somaliland “will affect no party or country.”

The deal gives Ethiopia the opportunity to obtain a permanent and reliable naval base and commercial maritime service in the Gulf of Aden.

Ethiopia lost its Red Sea ports in the early 1990s after the Eritrean War of Independence, which lasted from 1961 to 1991.

In 1991, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia, leading to the establishment of two separate nations.

The separation resulted in Ethiopia losing direct access to the Red Sea and key ports.

The region has also witnessed a conflict in one of its member states, Sudan, that killed thousands and displaced millions.

Sudan has been mired by fighting between the army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the country’s ruling Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April.

Several cease-fire agreements brokered by Saudi and US mediators have failed to end the violence.