Relationship dossier
Ethiopia
South Sudan
Relationship assessment
Substantive bilateral cooperation alongside Ethiopia’s prominent role in South Sudan peace mediation
Ethiopia toward South Sudan
+45Ethiopia has supported regional efforts to resolve South Sudan’s conflict, including by participating in IGAD-led mediation and hosting peace negotiations. The governments have also pursued cooperation in areas including trade, transport and security.
South Sudan toward Ethiopia
+35South Sudan has participated in Ethiopia-hosted and IGAD-led peace processes and pursued bilateral cooperation with Ethiopia in areas including trade, transport and security.
Overall relationship
+40The relationship combines practical bilateral cooperation with Ethiopia’s sustained regional role in South Sudanese peace efforts. Cooperation across multiple policy areas supports a broadly positive assessment, while uncertainty about implementation and the breadth of current ties counsels against characterizing the partnership as exceptionally close.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Ethiopia has played a prominent role in regional mediation of South Sudan’s conflict, including through IGAD-led peace efforts. The two governments have also pursued bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade, transport and security. These initiatives indicate substantive ties, although their implementation and the breadth of ongoing bilateral cooperation are unclear.
Key developments
The governments pursued bilateral cooperation agreements covering areas including trade, transport and security.
Ethiopia hosted IGAD-led negotiations aimed at resolving South Sudan’s conflict.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral cooperation agreements are unclear.
- The extent of current direct cooperation beyond regional peace efforts is uncertain.