Ethiopia-Somaliland seaport accord instrumental in exploiting BRICS market

Addis Ababa, January 6, 2024 (FBC) – BRICS include countries with large population and geography, and the addition of the five new member countries will even make it stronger, Trade and Regional Integration Minister Gebremeskel Chala told ENA.

BRICS comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. With the accession of Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates this month, the membership has doubled.

The bloc is bringing the global market system from the previous uni-polar to at least two options. It has huge ever-increasing share from economic perspective at the global level. In multilateral stage, these countries have provided various products to the global market.

Based on the countries modality and agreement as well as their large population, the bloc is expected to entertain huge trade transaction, the minister elaborated.

BRICS will increase the empowerment of Ethiopia with massive significance in terms of making the economy grow, increasing competency and ensuring the balance of competition globally as well as increasing the source of finance from single source to two, he stated.

Gebremeskel said Ethiopia will definitely benefit from such a huge market with its industry products and agricultural products.

The recent seaport agreement with Somaliland and its membership in BRICS will enable Ethiopia to benefit a lot by exporting and importing goods at fair price to the member countries.

Regarding the preparation of the country to properly benefit from other trade blocs, the minister pointed out that as a member of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Ethiopia has submitted tariff offers for goods and is in the process of joining World Trade Organization.

For the minister, the recent agreement with Somaliland to secure seaport will have great significance in shipping the nation’s products to member countries of the BRICS and to import good at fair prices from those countries.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Partnership and Cooperation signed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) and President Muse Bihi Abdi in Addis Ababa on January 1, 2024 includes wide scopes of cooperation in social, economic, political and military fields.

It gives Ethiopia the opportunity to obtain a permanent and reliable naval base and commercial maritime service in the Gulf of Aden through a lease arrangement, while Somaliland gets share from Ethiopian Airlines.