HENOK MERHATSIDK 1.pdf - Addis Ababa University

5.6. The Use of Port
Ethiopian rulers were in disagreement with their rival colonial powers of Ottoman Turks,
Italy and regional expansionist power of Egypt regarding the issue of port. According to
Woodward (1995), Adulis port used as a channel to link the Axumite civilization of Ethiopia
with the rest of the world, the coming in the scene of colonial powers in the Red Sea coastal
area denied Ethiopia open access to the sea. This had implications for its isolation from the
rest of the world and underdevelopment for centuries. Italy controlled Masawa in the 1880’s
and invaded Ethiopia in 1896 and 1935. The former was concluded by the total defeat of
Italy by Ethiopia, while the latter witnessed the occupation of Ethiopia by Mussolini for
about five years. When the Emperor Haile sellassie restored his power in 1941, his primary
agenda was uniting Eritrea and safe guarding Ethiopia’s access to the sea. Haile sellassie
forged good relations with the US and UK for this end. His effort was fruitful when Eritrea
confederated with Ethiopia in 1961. The abolition of federation by Ethiopia severely
criticized by many and Eritreans started guerrillas fighting. But the emperor was following a
smart move not to escalate the civil war in Eritrea (Joseph, 1993:502; Woodward, 1995:14-
17).
The coming of military regime in 1974 accelerated the Eritrean civil war, highly excited by
victory on Somalia Derg determined to solve the Eritrean question by force. Therefore, the
former military regime allocated large budget for its army. However, the combined forces of
EPLF (Eritrean People Liberation Front) and TPLF (Tigrean People Liberation Front)
heavily defeated it (Woodward, 1995:98-100). Initially there was a hope for Ethiopian access
to Assab port in Eritrea, but finally the former comrades went to war in 1998 and Ethiopia
once again lost access to the sea (Ewing, 2008:1-7).
The current EPRDF regime is forced to allocate large sum of hard currency for port service.
The Djibouti port is now serving Ethiopia’s import/export trade. And the government is
looking for alternative port from the rest of neighboring countries of Kenya, Sudan, and
Somalia. Mombasa port, of Kenya, the newly constructing Lamo Port, Port Sudan, Berbera
port and Hargesa port in Somalia are considered by the Ethiopian government.
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