According to multiple government and diplomatic sources, the President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi will travel to Addis Ababa in the coming days. Sources add that President Bihi is going to Addis on an official invitation from his counterpart, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mr. Abiy Ahmed.
President Bihi has visited Ethiopia multiple times during his four years at the helm, and his latest visit was on February 2020 during The African Union Heads of State and Governments Summit, where Prime Minister Abiy has set up a meeting between President Bihi and Farmajo.
Prime Minister Abiy has changed a long-standing policy of successive Ethiopian governments that treated Somaliland separately from Somalia by allying himself with Farmajo and all but ignoring Somaliland. Ethiopia is Somaliland’s largest trade partner and holds a 19 percent stake in Berbera Port.
The Somaliland government has not issued an official statement on President Bihi’s impending visit to Addis Ababa, and no details of the agenda have emerged.