Ethiopia’s Sea Access Essential for Lasting Regional Stability, Integration: IFA Senior Researcher

(September 8, 2026, Addis Ababa) — Ethiopia's return to secure and reliable sea access is vital for peace, regional integration and collective security of the Horn of Africa, Gizachew Asrat, Chief of Staff and Senior Researcher at the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) said. 

In an exclusive interview with ENA, the senior researcher on the Horn of Africa noted that Ethiopia is the only country in the world that has such a huge population without access to sea, emphasizing that there is a serious connectivity and linkage of security, prosperity and growth.

According to him, Ethiopia's return to the sea will be instrumental not only for its national interest but also crucial for ensuring regional stability.

Having a huge population, a growing economy, and a strategic location, the return of Ethiopia’s access to the sea is a vital geopolitical imperative for securing maritime security in the Horn of Africa and the wider Red Sea corridor, the senior researcher stressed.

Piracy and the conflict in Yemen are affecting the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden security issues; and the piracy in Somalia also affects the security of the Red Sea, Gizachew said.

The senior researcher stressed that Ethiopia's maritime pursuit presents mutual benefits for the entire region in this regard as attacks on the sea have a direct impact on the land. 

Ethiopia's “human resources, strong security-wise operation capacity, and a better economic potential as well as growth will add additional asset for the regional cooperation frameworks on maritime connectivity and security issues to be managed in partnership,” Gizachew stated.

The senior researcher highlighted Ethiopia's extensive track record in international peacekeeping, peace operations, and counter-terrorism as critical assets that would enhance maritime security and stability across regional trade corridors.

Moreover, he noted that Ethiopia has experience in international peacekeeping, international peace operations, and fighting terrorism.

All these give Ethiopia leverage, he underlined.

The senior researcher added that the geopolitical line between littoral and non-littoral states is increasingly interconnected, stressing that there is no any separate issue which is affecting only littoral states that does not affect non-littoral states.

Ethiopia's maritime access or access to the sea, either for security purposes, or commercial purposes, has its own impact as the insecurity seen in the sea will not be solved by a few countries.

Gizachew concluded that Ethiopia's access to the sea—for both commercial and security purposes—will serve as a key pillar for sustainable, partnership-driven stability throughout the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopia’s strategic initiative to secure reliable, sovereign, and secure sea access has become a central pillar of its national security and economic policy. 

As the world’s most populous landlocked nation, the country’s strategic push to reconnect with the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden corridors represents a foundational pillar for both its domestic survival and the broader geopolitical integration and stability of the Horn of Africa.