Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed recently said on state TV: “We built one of the strongest ground and air force in Africa… we should build our naval force capacity in the future.”
His comments revealed the country’s naval ambitions but his plans for how to achieve this goal have not been made public. However, Ethiopia’s latest push to enter into deals with its coastal neighbors signals something is afoot.
Deo Gumba, from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), says Ethiopia’s naval ambitions could be targeting the operations of Islamist militant group al-Shabab in Somalia, as well as piracy in the Indian Ocean. Mr Gumba said that, as a US ally, Ethiopia was likely to get support for its plans.
Timothy Walker, a maritime researcher at ISS, however, cautioned that it would take decades for Ethiopia to have a fully fledged naval unit.
“It may create a maritime branch of its armed forces but not a navy… it would take decades for the procurement of ships and training of the force.” […] CONTINUE READING
