Reclaiming direct access to sea ports is a matter of sovereignty, and failure to do so will leave Ethiopia to existential threats, ex-naval officer warns.
Member of the former Ethiopian Marine, Ferede Fithanegest regrettably expressed that Ethiopia would be free of dependency if it possessed ports and water lanes through which it could directly access to the rest of the world.
The nation is paying billions of dollars to port rent, the ex-mariner says, which could otherwise be invested to generate huge job opportunities-a pressing bottleneck of Ethiopia for over three decades.
Ferede added that ports do have capacities of absorbing millions of unemployed nationals, with the potential to consume over 10 to 15 percent of job seekers.
The officer, who navigated the Red Sea, as part of his mission to guard Ethiopia’s coastal territory which extends from border of Djibouti to the Eritrea Province back then, recalls the huge potential ports could possess in consolidating import-exports.
Reminding the irreplaceable roles seaports could play in global trade, Ferede Fithanegest urged Ethiopia to apply all potentially rational tools on the table to make its quest of having direct seaports.
He also accused those old school politicians of their stance which he finds to be against the national interests of Ethiopia, and against reality on the ground.
He recalls that until recently, it has been almost a taboo to raise issues related to seaports, and even many were accused of being against Ethiopia and suffered simply because they tried to defend Ethiopia.