Berbera Port Expansion Completed, said VP Saylici

Hargeisa– August 08, the Vice President Abdirahman Abdilahi “Saylici” made a news with his twitter account, ” As Deputy President of Somaliland and on behalf of the people, words can’t express my great excitement about the nearing completion of the Berbera port expansion. my gratitude goes to the Sheikhs of the UAE and the DP World.”

The Berbera port has been under expansion according to the local media when DP World took over following humiliating dismissal from the management of groups of ports in Djibouti.

In the last few years, Dubai Port World rushed to the Horn of Africa ports from Assab in Eritrea to Bossaaso port in Somalia in a brutal campaign many analyst, ” the game of ports”. Many independent analysts view the long term sabotage of these regional ports to avert any possible development by any other investor and to keep the region in status quo. China instead built enormous port from scratch in Pakistan that will supply Asia, East Europe and Africa.

despite the appreciation of Berbera port upgrade by the vice president, the business activities didn’t increase tangibly. Ethiopian business community and shipping line agents didn’t yet arrive in the idle port of Berbera that has been the most active seaport in Somalia during 70s and 80s when goods meant to be transported to Mogadishu is redirected to Berbera due to its proximity: goods from or to Gulf can reach Port of Mogadishu for a week minimum when there is no sea storms but they reach Berbera less than a day. Export and import industry is forced to bring their goods to Berbera for cost minimizing and maximizing profit concept.

The distance between Berbera and Addis Ababa is 935 kilometers 16 hrs: 27 minutes , Addis Ababa to Assab 882 kilometers 12 hours roughly and Djibouti and Addis Ababa is 867 kilometers 11: 45 minutes.

Berbera expansion finished and many say it needs more investment to compete regionally and globally