During the BRICS Summit sidelines in Kazan on October 23, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, discussing mutual challenges faced by both landlocked nations, according to BelTA, Belarus’s state news agency.
Prime Minister Abiy expressed his country’s difficulties arising from limited access to the sea, which he said impacts Ethiopia’s growth and resource access. Acknowledging the strategic challenge, he noted Belarus’s understanding due to its own geography. “You know our struggle, you feel our struggle; this is the burden of a landlocked nation,” he shared. He added that Ethiopia, despite its abundant freshwater resources, often finds regional cooperation imbalanced, as neighboring countries are less inclined to share access to maritime routes, which hampers fair resource distribution. “Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous nation, yet lacks access to the sea, making survival incredibly challenging,” he emphasized, especially with Ethiopia’s growing economy, projected to expand by 8.4% in 2024.
Lukashenko encouraged stronger cooperation with Ethiopia, highlighting global shifts requiring nations to keep pace with emerging challenges. He expressed optimism about Ethiopia’s prospects, describing maritime access as a “matter of time.” Lukashenko further suggested that Ethiopia’s neighbors would do well to approach this situation pragmatically, favoring peaceful negotiation over conflict. “Those who don’t recognize this inevitability are simply mistaken; Ethiopia’s access to the sea, whether through diplomacy or otherwise, is on the horizon,” he concluded.