Ethiopian PM’s call for Red Sea port access sends jitters across Horn of Africa

Horn of Africa is concerned about a new war in the battle-scarred region after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s call for a direct port access on the Red Sea, asserting that access to the sea is an existential question.
Ethiopia is abuzz with rumors of a looming war in the region after Abiy reportedly told a meeting of businessmen that “we want to get a port by peaceful means. But if that fails we will use force”. Some saw this as a gambit to win political support at home, as the prime minister seemed to appeal to an influential elite from the Amhara ethnic group who advocate for a greater Ethiopia. The east African country’s most obvious target is the Eritrean Red Sea port of Assab, which was part of Ethiopia until Eritrean independence more than 30 years ago. Ethiopia lost direct access to the sea in 1993 when Eritrea gained independence after almost 30 years of war. Abiy, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his rapprochement with Eritrea.
Direct access to the coast would allow Ethiopia to develop its economy, strengthen its Navy and exert regional influence, experts say. Since the 1998 Ethiopian-Eritrean war and the closure of the border between the two countries, the Assab port has fallen into disrepair, while Ethiopia’s trade has been channelled through neighboring Djibouti. While Abiy publicly denies that he intends to invade Eritrea, many Ethiopians and their neighbors read between the lines and think the prime minister is threatening to use force. Still, he has recently called for dialogue via an emergency summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on this issue, arguing that Ethiopia is the world’s most-populous landlocked country and that access to the sea was a top priority for Ethiopian emperors.