Former Ethiopian PM Calls Sea Access Pursuit Rational, Urges Dialogue

The statement from Hailemariam Desalegn signals that Ethiopia's landlocked status and ambitions for port access remain politically active issues even outside the current government, with...

Former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn stated on October 29, 2026, that Ethiopia's pursuit of sustainable sea access is a rational and undeniable national aspiration, and that the matter should be resolved through dialogue and negotiations, according to the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) as reported by AllAfrica.

Hailemariam served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 2012 to 2018, leading the country during a period of significant economic growth and internal political tension. He stepped down voluntarily in February 2018 amid widespread protests, paving the way for Abiy Ahmed to take office. His public statements continue to carry weight within Ethiopian political discourse.

Ethiopia has been landlocked since 1993, when Eritrea became an independent state following a referendum, taking with it the Red Sea coastline that Ethiopia had previously used. The separation left Ethiopia, now Africa's second-most populous country with an estimated 130 million people according to World Bank data, entirely dependent on foreign ports for its international trade.

The country currently routes the vast majority of its imports and exports through the Port of Djibouti, a small neighboring state whose port handles an estimated 90 percent of Ethiopian trade, according to the African Development Bank. This dependence has long been characterized by Ethiopian officials as an economic vulnerability and a strategic liability.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has raised the issue of sea access with increasing frequency since 2023, stating publicly that Ethiopia requires its own access to the sea as a matter of national survival. Those statements prompted concern from neighboring countries, particularly Eritrea and Somalia, which share coastline in the region.

In January 2024, Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, a self-declared independent territory in northern Somalia, to lease a portion of coastline in exchange for economic cooperation and a prospective equity stake in Ethiopian Airlines, according to reporting by Reuters at the time. The agreement drew sharp protest from the Federal Government of Somalia, which does not recognize Somaliland's independence, and strained relations between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu through much of 2024 and 2025.

Hailemariam's remarks do not represent official government policy, as he holds no current governmental position. However, his framing of sea access as a legitimate and rational national goal aligns with the Abiy administration's stated position, suggesting broad political consensus within Ethiopia's major political figures on the underlying objective, even if methods remain contested.

The former prime minister's emphasis on dialogue and negotiations is notable in the context of regional tensions. It implicitly distinguishes his preferred approach from any coercive or unilateral action, a distinction that regional neighbors and the African Union have repeatedly called for as the framework to govern such disputes.

The African Union, headquartered in Addis Ababa, has not formally mediated on the specific question of Ethiopian sea access. The AU's founding Constitutive Act and the earlier Organization of African Unity Charter both enshrine respect for inherited colonial borders as a foundational principle, a stance that complicates any formal institutional support for territorial arrangements that would alter or circumvent recognized boundaries.

What specific diplomatic process or forum Hailemariam envisions for resolving the sea access question was not specified in the ENA report. What would clarify that would be a more detailed public statement from him or a formal proposal tabled in a bilateral or multilateral setting.

The issue carries implications for the broader Horn of Africa region, where the relationships among Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, and Somaliland remain in varying states of tension or managed cooperation. Any durable arrangement on Ethiopian port access would require the consent of at least one coastal neighbor, and the diplomatic path to that outcome remains undefined as of this reporting.