MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will arrive in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Thursday to hold discussions with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somalia’s state news agency reported, following a thawing in icy relations.
The relationship soured in January 2024 when Ethiopia announced plans to lease a stretch of coastline in Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region.
Ethiopia planned to build a naval base and commercial port in exchange for possible recognition of Somaliland’s independence.
Somalia accused Ethiopia of undermining its territorial integrity, threatened to eject its peacekeepers, and strengthened relations with Ethiopia’s arch foes Egypt and Eritrea.
The two countries agreed to resolve the dispute in December, pledging to find commercial arrangements to allow landlocked Ethiopia “reliable, secure and sustainable access to and from the sea.”
(Reporting by Hereward Holland; Editing by Christina Fincher)
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