The UAE Puts Its Name Behind Ethiopia's Territorial Integrity as Airports Change Hands

Abu Dhabi condemned the TPLF offensive against federal forces and the seizure of airports in Tigray, and said it would keep backing Ethiopia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The UAE is among the largest foreign investors in the Ethiopian economy.

The United Arab Emirates has condemned the attack by the TPLF and allied armed forces on Ethiopia's federal forces, and said it will go on supporting "Ethiopia's sovereignty, its people's unity, territorial integrity, peace, security and stability."

Abu Dhabi also condemned the taking of airports in Tigray and the spread of the fighting into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions. Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, whom Tikvah Ethiopia identified as the UAE's foreign minister, said the events threaten Ethiopia's unity, sovereignty, peace and stability.

Why a foreign ministry statement is a business story

Diplomatic language from the Gulf reads as boilerplate until you look at where the money is. Writing in Addis Fortune this week, Abel Takele put Emirati state-backed and private agribusiness investment into East African agriculture at close to 12 billion dollars over the last fifteen years, driven by a country that imports about 90 percent of its own food. In Ethiopia that has meant land-use agreements built around irrigation, modern inputs and staple-crop yields.

An investor with that much committed does not issue a sovereignty statement idly. For anyone holding Emirati capital in an Ethiopian project, or hoping to raise it, the signal is that Abu Dhabi is not repricing its position because of the fighting — at least not yet, and at least not out loud.

Open

The statement did not say whether the UAE is contemplating any material step beyond the words. It is also silent on the airports: which ones, and whether the UAE is taking a view on the aviation routes that carry its trade.

Sources: Tikvah Ethiopia, 25 September 2026, Addis Fortune, 26 September 2026