Ethiopia’s prime minister wants a Red Sea harbour
Abiy Ahmed’s push for access to the sea has rattled his neighbours
Nerves are jangling once again in the Horn of Africa, just a year after the end of a brutal civil war in Ethiopia that led to the deaths of perhaps 385,000-600,000 people. Now foreign diplomats and analysts fear that in his bid to get a port on the Red Sea, Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, risks sparking another conflict, this time next to one of the world’s busiest shipping routes (see map).
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Ports in a storm”
Middle East & Africa November 4th 2023
- The pace of Israel’s war in Gaza far exceeds previous conflicts
- Why urban warfare in Gaza will be bloodier than in Iraq
- Is a two-state solution possible after the Gaza war?
- America suspends duty-free access to four African countries
- How the red beret became Africa’s most political hat
- Ethiopia’s prime minister wants a Red Sea harbour
From the November 4th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Middle East & Africa
America concludes genocide has been committed in Sudan—again
The move highlights the magnitude of Sudan’s civil war but does little to end it
Lebanon tries yet again to elect a new president
But it will not be easy to convince its corrupt politicians to reform
The West is making a muddle of its Syria sanctions
Outsiders should be much clearer about how and when they will be lifted
Alawites formed Syria’s elite. Now they are terrified
Fear of reprisal stalks the heartlands of the Assad regime
From inside an obliterated Gaza, gunfire not a ceasefire
In north Gaza the IDF is now facing “a bitter guerrilla war”
Mozambique’s opposition leader flies home into chaos
Will Venâncio Mondlane’s arrival on January 9th deepen or ease political crisis?