Geopolitics in the Horn of Africa doesn't move quietly. When Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud sat down for an interview with Al Jazeera in early October 2026, he laid out a stance that caught many regional analysts off guard. Somalia isn't slamming the door on Ethiopia's quest for maritime trade. Instead, Mogadishu is drawing a hard line on sovereignty while offering a pragmatic economic alternative.
If you've been following the tense friction sparked by Ethiopia's controversial 2024 memorandum of understanding with the breakaway region of Somaliland, this recent shift sounds counterintuitive. Addis Ababa has been landlocked since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, relying heavily on Djibouti for almost all of its imports and exports. Ethiopia wants sovereign or long-term secure naval and commercial access. Somalia insists that any arrangement must go through the federal government in Mogadishu, not through a unilateral side deal with Hargeisa. If you found value in this piece, you might want to look at: this related article.
President Mohamud pointed directly to international law to frame the solution. Under Part X of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, landlocked nations have established pathways for commercial sea access. There are sixteen landlocked states across Africa, and they manage their trade routes through bilateral and regional agreements. Somalia's position is simple. Ethiopia can use two or three Somali ports for commercial import and export activities, but Addis Ababa must negotiate directly with the federal government to establish clear terms, fees, and tariffs.
The catch? Ethiopia hasn't actually submitted a formal, official request specifying what kind of setup it wants yet. For another perspective on this story, check out the recent coverage from Reuters.
The underlying tension goes far beyond commercial shipping lanes. The region remains a powder keg of competing foreign interests, maritime security concerns tied to the Bab al-Mandeb strait, and broader anxieties about foreign military or strategic footprints along the coast. Mogadishu has made it clear that while economic cooperation is entirely on the table, bypassing national sovereignty or dragging Somalia into wider geopolitical proxy battles is a non-starter.
If Ethiopia actually wants a permanent solution to its landlocked geography, the path forward requires abandoning backchannel workarounds and sitting at the negotiating table with Mogadishu. The door is open, but the rules of engagement are non-negotiable.
This video provides important context on the tensions surrounding the ongoing negotiations over port access in the Horn of Africa.
