Ethiopia announced more than a year ago that it will re-establish navy but the location was unspecified
Re-establishing the Ethiopian Navy was one of the major reform measures that the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged to introduce in the defense sector.
When the Ethiopian government announced the plan sometime in late October or November 2018, all that was known was that the relevant body within the Ethiopian government was having a consultation with other countries regarding the matter – as deputy chief of staff of the Defense Force- Berhanu Jula disclosed at the time.
All that was known about the location was that it would be “based in the littoral parts of international waters of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.” The specific country was left for speculation.
Now a little detail is revealed about it.
Capital, a local newspaper in Ethiopia, reported on Monday that Ethiopia’s navy will be based in neighboring Djibouti. But the command head office will be based in Ethiopia, in Bahir Dar, to be specific, one of the tourist destinations in the country.
The source added that Brigadier General Kindu Gezu is tasked with leading reviving Ethiopia’s Navy as Commander but the government will ultimately appoint Chief Commander for the naval force.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh have discussed the reestablishment of Ethiopian naval force during the former’s latest visit to Djibouti, sometime in the third week of October this year, according to the source.
Ethiopia’s naval force was first established in 1955 and was headquartered in Massawa but was disbanded in 1996 after Ethiopia lost access to the sea following the secession of Eritrea.
The Government of the French Republic has pledged to support Ethiopia in its effort to re-establish the force.
Ethiopia and Djibouti have a Road Transport Corridor Project which is partly funded by African Development Bank as part of its efforts to facilitate regional economic integration. The project is aimed to ease Ethiopia’s access to the sea.
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