Ethiopia is considering the purchase of amphibious assault ships, according to sources familiar with this development.
Ethiopia, a landlocked country, has been making efforts to gain access to sea through neighboring countries. At the start of this year, the Ethiopian government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with neighboring Somaliland to gain access to sea through Somaliland in return for recognizing Somaliland as a country. The MoU is being opposed by Somalia which has launched a diplomatic campaign to stop the implementation of this MoU.
Reportedly, the Ethiopian government is in talks with 3 providers to purchase amphibious assault ships. The government intends to deploy these vessels to Somaliland where it wants to build a naval base.
An amphibious assault ship can be used to host helicopters and support ground, naval and air forces. It is not clear how many ships Ethiopia intends to buy.
Ethiopian government is planning to buy expensive warships at a time when official currency fell by 73% in one week. At the start of this week, the Ethiopian Prime Minister introduced new macro economic reforms and linked currency exchange rates to open market. Since then birr, the Ethiopian currency, has been losing against dollar and other currencies.
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