{"id":3326,"date":"2026-01-04T18:27:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T18:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/3326\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T18:27:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T18:27:58","slug":"landlocked-ethiopia-is-escalating-regional-tensions-by-seeking-more-access-to-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/3326\/","title":{"rendered":"Landlocked Ethiopia is escalating regional tensions by seeking more access to the sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ethiopia\u2019s leader loves big projects. With a contentious megadam completed on the Nile, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed now plans Africa\u2019s largest airport and a nuclear power plant. But the landlocked nation<\/a> risks escalating regional tensions with its most audacious stated aim of gaining greater access to the sea.<\/p>\n

Abiy hailed the country\u2019s transformation in a parliamentary address in late October. The capital, Addis Ababa, has seen a development boom. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam<\/a> was inaugurated in July, despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia\u2019s prime minister has called it a \u201charbinger of tomorrow\u2019s dawn\u201d that will end the reliance on foreign aid for Africa\u2019s second most populous nation. The country has been one of the world\u2019s biggest aid recipients.<\/p>\n

But multiple challenges lie ahead that could badly damage the economy, which has seen some of the strongest growth on the continent. And Ethiopia\u2019s renewed focus on increasing its access to the Red Sea is provoking an old adversary.<\/p>\n

Eritrea<\/p>\n

Abiy\u2019s government has spoken repeatedly about regaining access to the Red Sea through neighboring Eritrea, which Ethiopia lost when Eritrea seceded in 1993 after decades of guerrilla warfare.<\/p>\n

The countries made peace in recent years, bringing Abiy a Nobel Peace Prize, then teamed up for a devastating war against Ethiopia\u2019s Tigray region. Now tensions have returned.<\/p>\n

In June, Eritrea accused Ethiopia of having a \u201clong-brewing war agenda\u201d aimed at seizing its Red Sea ports. Ethiopia recently claimed Eritrea was \u201cactively preparing to wage war against it.\u201d It has also accused Eritrea of supporting Ethiopian rebel groups.<\/p>\n

Ethiopia has said it wants to gain sea access through Eritrea peacefully, which it relied on heavily for trade before the secession, but Abiy\u2019s rhetoric has at times been seen as provocative. In September, he said Ethiopia losing access through Eritrea\u2019s secession was a \u201cmistake\u201d that \u201cwill be corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ethiopia\u2019s trade through the Eritrean port of Assab halted after their 1998-2000 border war and 90% of Ethiopia\u2019s trade is now through Djibouti, incurring high port fees.<\/p>\n

Magus Taylor, deputy Horn of Africa director at the International Crisis Group, described the tensions as concerning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a possibility of mistakes or miscalculation,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the situation could deteriorate further in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Egypt<\/p>\n

Egypt relies on the Nile for nearly all its drinking water and fiercely opposed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, asserting that it would threaten the supply. Egypt and Ethiopia have held several rounds of inconclusive talks<\/a> to regulate the use of the dam, especially in times of drought.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, in Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo, File)<\/p>\n

A view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, in Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo, File)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Since the dam\u2019s inauguration, Cairo has toughened its rhetoric against Ethiopia. In September, it said it reserved \u201cthe right to take all necessary measures \u2026 to defend the existential interests of its people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ethiopia says the dam is critical for its development as it seeks to lift millions of people out of poverty.<\/p>\n

Egypt has also sought to exploit tensions between Ethiopia and its neighbors. It has bolstered security ties with Eritrea and signed a security pact with Somalia, which last year reacted furiously when Ethiopia signed a port deal<\/a> with the breakaway region of Somaliland, over which Somalia claims sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Ethnic conflicts<\/p>\n

The war in Ethiopia\u2019s Tigray region ended with a peace deal<\/a> in late 2022, but the country\u2019s two largest regions \u2014 Amhara and Oromia \u2014 are wracked by ethnic-based insurgencies that threaten internal security.<\/p>\n

Both the group of loosely organized militias called Fano in Amhara, and the Oromo Liberation Army Oromia, claim to represent those oppressed by the federal government.<\/p>\n

\"Fighters<\/p>\n

\n Fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) walk along a street in the town of Hawzen, then controlled by the group, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis, File)\n <\/p>\n

Fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) walk along a street in the town of Hawzen, then controlled by the group, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis, File)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n A destroyed tank is seen by the side of the road south of Humera, in an area of western Tigray, annexed by the Amhara region during the ongoing conflict, in Ethiopia, May 1, 2021. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis, File)\n <\/p>\n

A destroyed tank is seen by the side of the road south of Humera, in an area of western Tigray, annexed by the Amhara region during the ongoing conflict, in Ethiopia, May 1, 2021. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis, File)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Witnesses have reported massacres and other extrajudicial killings by all sides. Kidnapping for ransom has become commonplace, and humanitarian aid groups struggle to deliver supplies.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International has described the cycle of violence as a \u201crevolving door of injustices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the peace deal for Tigray risks unraveling. Southern areas of Tigray have seen clashes between regional forces and local militias aligned with the federal government. Tigray\u2019s rulers accused the federal government of \u201copenly breaching\u201d the agreement after a drone strike hit its forces.<\/p>\n

Abiy\u2019s government now accuses Tigray\u2019s rulers of colluding with Eritrea.<\/p>\n

Economic inequality<\/p>\n

The insecurity contrasts starkly with the mood in Addis Ababa, where Abiy has spent billions of dollars on a face lift that has included creating bike lanes, a conference center, parks and museums.<\/p>\n

The prime minister wants to turn the capital, already home to the African Union continental body and one of Africa\u2019s busiest airports, into a hub for international tourists and investors.<\/p>\n

He has floated Ethiopia\u2019s currency, opened the banking sector and launched a stock exchange \u2014 all dramatic steps for a country where the economy has long been state-owned and state-managed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An Ethiopian woman argues with others over the allocation of yellow split peas after it was distributed by the Relief Society of Tigray in the town of Agula, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, May 8, 2021. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis, File)<\/p>\n

An Ethiopian woman argues with others over the allocation of yellow split peas after it was distributed by the Relief Society of Tigray in the town of Agula, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, May 8, 2021. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis, File)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

The reforms helped Ethiopia secure a $3.4 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund last year. But investors are wary about Ethiopia\u2019s internal insecurity and tensions with its neighbors.<\/p>\n

Poverty, meanwhile, has risen alarmingly. About 43% of Ethiopians now live under the poverty line, up from 33% in 2016, two years before Abiy took power, according to the World Bank. That\u2019s due in part to rising food and fuel prices as well as defense spending taking up more of Ethiopia\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

The sense of prosperity prevailing in Addis Ababa is not shared by Ethiopia\u2019s regions, said Taylor with the International Crisis Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbiy has a firm grip on the country at the center, but then you have these periphery conflicts partly based on feelings of injustice \u2013 that they are poor and the center is rich,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we expect this kind of instability to continue in these areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

For more on Africa and development: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/africa-pulse<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ethiopia\u2019s leader loves big projects. With a contentious megadam completed on the Nile, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[2888,2890,63,2125,2123,1983,65,2889,762,2893,261,2891,2892,242],"class_list":{"0":"post-3326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ethiopia","8":"tag-abiy-ahmed","9":"tag-addis-ababa","10":"tag-africa","11":"tag-africa-pulse","12":"tag-energy-industry","13":"tag-eritrea","14":"tag-ethiopia","15":"tag-ethiopia-government","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-international-agreements","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-poverty","20":"tag-war-and-unrest","21":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}