Beyond the Port: A Shared Future for Ethiopia and Eritrea

Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com  

By Makonnen G

I heard Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s recent speech in Parliament — the one that drew loud applause when he spoke about taking a Red Sea port “by hook or by crook.” Let’s be honest: that chamber is not a place of real deliberation. It is a controlled parliament. The few who dared to ask genuine questions — like Christian Tadele — are now in prison. So the clapping means nothing. What matters is the content of his speech. And on Assab, his message was reckless.

Prime minister Abiy Ahmed said he could not find any decision by an Ethiopian parliament or cabinet to transfer Assab to Eritrea. That argument is ridiculous. Assab was not “transferred” by document — it became Eritrean when Eritrea became independent. The thirty-year war for Eritrea’s liberation ended with a decisive victory, and that victory was recognized by the United Nations, by the OAU/AU, and by the Ethiopian government of the time. Sovereignty is not handed out like land plots. You do not recognize a state and then later negotiate its seacoast, its mountains, and its border towns one by one. Eritrea’s independence included Assab. That was settled — in blood.

But the real solution to this problem will not come from leaders who speak for applause. It will come from the people — because the people have already shown that coexistence is possible. During the independence war, while Eritreans were fighting in Sahel and Nakfa, a large number of Eritreans were living and prospering inside Ethiopia. They owned hotels, restaurants, garages, transport companies, buses, taxis. They worked in government offices, and some even served in the Ethiopian military. Some rose to become generals, ministers, and senior officials — even the head of state and the head of the army were of Eritrean origin. Yet they were not treated as outsiders or as a special ethnic group to be contained. They were seen as Ethiopians, and the Ethiopian people accepted them as such. Many of them arrived with almost nothing and became millionaires — not because the regime favored them, but because ordinary Ethiopians opened their doors and hearts. That tells you something deeper than any speech: the peoples of the two countries never hated each other. Never.

What poisoned it? Ethnic politics. After the TPLF-era tensions,  Eritreans were deported, their properties seized, their status destroyed. A relationship that had been built quietly, economically, and humanly was torn apart by the TPLF. Then another wave of ethnicized politics came and made it even worse. Now, war is once again being whispered about. But that is a choice — and it is a bad one.

This is why I insist: the solution comes from the people, not from politicians. People remember working together. People remember mixed families. People remember Eritrean traders doing business in Addis and Ethiopian students studying in Asmara. People remember it was normal. Politicians remember power, not people.

Even President Isaias once said, “These people are one. Whoever says otherwise is a fool.” I don’t think that view has changed. What has changed is Abiy Ahmed

s posture. From the beginning, he has been performing, not building. He acts tough, but toughness without honesty is just noise. You cannot shout your way to a port.

And even if — by force — you seize a port, what then? You can seize it, but you cannot use it. A port taken through war becomes a permanent front line. It needs soldiers, not traders. It invites retaliation, not investment. Ships don’t come to contested waters. Insurance companies avoid them. Investors flee. So what is the use? A port that cannot be used is not a port — it is a trophy. Poor countries don’t need trophies. They need functioning, peaceful, shared infrastructure.

The mature path is obvious: Ethiopia needs reliable sea access; Eritrea needs reliable revenue and regional stability. Both can get what they want through a formal, transparent agreement that respects Eritrea’s sovereignty and acknowledges Ethiopia’s legitimate economic needs. Ethiopia can use Massawa and Assab. Eritrea can earn from it. Roads, rail, electricity, even joint Red Sea security — all of this is possible without firing a single shot.

War is the most expensive way to get what you could have obtained by agreement. And in the case of Ethiopia and Eritrea, war is even more foolish, because the two peoples are socially interwoven. You cannot bomb people today and tell them “we are brothers” tomorrow. Better to protect the brotherhood now.

So the message is simple:

Assab is not up for renegotiation — Eritrea’s sovereignty was settled.

Ethiopia’s need for the sea is real — but it must be met through cooperation.

The people of both countries have already shown they can live, work, and prosper together.

War would destroy what little trust remains and still not deliver a usable port.

The Horn of Africa has bled enough. The Red Sea should not become another stage for political actors. It should become a corridor of shared growth. Let politicians posture if they want — but the people must refuse war. 

Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com  

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