On 1 January 2024, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi.

Reportedly, this MoU stated that Somaliland would lease 19 kilometres (12 mi) of its Gulf of Aden coastline to Ethiopia around the port city of Berbera.

This agreement follows recent tensions surrounding Prime Minister Ahmed's stated desire for Ethiopia to have access to the Red Sea.

President of Somaliland Muse Bihi Abdi stated that it included the lease of more than 19 kilometres of sea access around Berbera for 50 years to the Ethiopian Navy.

[5] In October 2023, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described the sea access as "an existential issue for his country", with this statement leading to concerns that this implied seizing land from neighboring Eritrea.

[5] Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed his firm opposition to the agreement, saying Somaliland is part of Somalia under its constitution and the deal was conducted without legal basis with disdaining the rule of the UN, AU, and IGAD.