Recent piece from RealLifeLore which helps to explain this situation. Ethiopia being landlocked, yet one of the most populated nations in the world.
https://youtu.be/J-hABbIseGk?si=9CGf506g6wpqGTmU
It feels like they either had to make a deal with a politically disadvantaged neighbor, or get involved militarily with Eritrea and Djibouti.
Playing "Thief: The Black Parade"
It's a fan mod released this year, for a game that was released in 1998. It was a labor of love that took 7 years to complete and is the most stunning mod I have ever seen for any game period.
They push the engine to its limits, the scale, creativity, level design and story are near perfection. The story and playtime are so good it feels like an official game. You forget it's not canon.
I can't believe this came along, it was truly refreshing. It won the 2023 ModDB mod of the year.
Mandalore did a great review, and mini tutorial about how to launch a 26 year old game on modern systems.