# Abiy signs a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on sea access

Date: 2024

## The fact

On 1 January 2024 Prime Minister Abiy and Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi signed a memorandum of understanding in Addis Ababa on Ethiopian sea access, reportedly including a coastal lease and a future recognition assessment. Somalia called it aggression.

## Context

The text was not fully published. He signed. Muse Bihi signed. The AU does not recognise Somaliland. He did not write a Somali federal statute. UAE/DP World weather around Berbera is neighbouring.

The July 2024 Ankara declaration is a later detente instrument.

The prime minister of Ethiopia is chief executive under the 1995 constitution as amended, chairs the Council of Ministers, and commands the ENDF in practice. He does not write AU Assembly resolutions, OHCHR investigation reports, IMF board decisions, or Somali federal statutes.

## Evidence and sources

Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

It is not a completed port.

## What is established and what is not

Established: a 1 January 2024 Ethiopia–Somaliland MoU signed in Addis, independently reported, with Somalia’s protest.

Not established: that Ethiopia thereby recognised Somaliland as a UN member, or that a naval base already existed.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

Muse Bihi signed. Somalia was not a party. The AU did not endorse.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Abiy signs a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on sea access, not a later speech about Abiy signs a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on sea access.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Abiy signs a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on sea access on 2024-01-01 is not a licence to treat every later Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor decree exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Abiy signs a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on sea access into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He signed as Ethiopian principal. Muse Bihi signed. Somalia was not a party. The AU did not endorse. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Abiy Ahmed: https://factrail.ai/people/sec-abiy-ahmed

## Drivers

- Political Polarization: https://factrail.ai/drivers/political-polarization
- Energy Security: https://factrail.ai/drivers/energy-security

## Sources

- https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ethiopia-signs-pact-with-somaliland-secure-access-sea-2024-01-01/
- https://www.pmo.gov.et/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/et-somaliland-mou-2024