{"id":1434,"date":"2026-02-10T11:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/?p=1434"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:51:14","slug":"ethiopias-pursuit-of-sea-access-a-question-of-survival-not-luxury-scholars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/ethiopias-pursuit-of-sea-access-a-question-of-survival-not-luxury-scholars\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia\u2019s Pursuit of Sea Access: A Question of Survival, Not Luxury-Scholars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>AMN Plus-February 10\/2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ethiopia\u2019s quest for access to the sea is an indispensable necessity for sustaining the country\u2019s rapid economic growth and maintaining its competitiveness in the global market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Public Administration and Policy expert Gemechu Ararsa (PhD) stated that Ethiopia is historically a great nation that once possessed its own access to the Red Sea, adding that international institutions are increasingly acknowledging the country\u2019s rapidly growing economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gemechu also pointed out that Ethiopia\u2019s quest for sea access is not only beneficial to the country itself but also contributes positively to peace and economic integration across the Horn of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"526\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/627924125_1371967498309953_6117111492373056376_n-1024x526.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/627924125_1371967498309953_6117111492373056376_n-1024x526.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/627924125_1371967498309953_6117111492373056376_n-300x154.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/627924125_1371967498309953_6117111492373056376_n-768x395.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/627924125_1371967498309953_6117111492373056376_n.jpg 1204w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, Madda Walabu University President Birhan Meskal Tena (PhD) underlined that Ethiopia\u2019s demand for a seaport is a matter of justice rather than luxury. He stated that seaport ownership is directly linked to national security and defense capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The university president further warned that being landlocked and relying on ports controlled by others poses a serious challenge to safeguarding national sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"507\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/628403410_1371967478309955_1598386265399353659_n-1024x507.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/628403410_1371967478309955_1598386265399353659_n-1024x507.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/628403410_1371967478309955_1598386265399353659_n-300x149.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/628403410_1371967478309955_1598386265399353659_n-768x380.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/628403410_1371967478309955_1598386265399353659_n.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The scholars emphasized that Ethiopia\u2019s demand is legitimate from historical, legal, and economic perspectives, noting that securing sea access is mutually beneficial and does not harm any nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a region where foreign powers are increasingly establishing military bases amid intense geopolitical competition, the experts argued that neighboring countries should reinforce their sovereignty through economic interdependence and regional cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They concluded that Ethiopia\u2019s effort to regain sea access lost through historical circumstances is part of its broader endeavor to independently manage its economy and strengthen its sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By Birhanu Workneh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AMN Plus-February 10\/2026 Ethiopia\u2019s quest for access to the sea is an indispensable necessity for sustaining the country\u2019s rapid economic growth and maintaining its competitiveness in the global market. Public Administration and Policy expert Gemechu Ararsa (PhD) stated that Ethiopia is historically a great nation that once possessed its own access to the Red Sea, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1438,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions\/1438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amn.gov.et\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}