Somaliland Central Bank unveils plans for new branch in Tog-Wachale

Hargeisa, Aug 17 (Somaliland.com) – Somaliland National Bank is looking towards opening a new branch in Tog-Wachale, a border town close to Ethiopia.

The Central Bank Governor has affirmed the initiative after he visited the commercial town. Mr. Ali Ibrahim Jama (Baqdadi) told yesterday the plan in a Facebook post.

The governor also toured the banks on the Ethiopian side of the town which are 14 banks in total. Mr. Ali Baqdadi mentioned that there are only two private banks in the Somaliland side–Dara-Salam and Dahabshil Banks.

Tog-Wachale is located in the western border between Somaliland and Ethiopia and is the center of trade between the two countries.

Trade between Somaliland and Ethiopia is expected to increase because of the on-going construction of Berbera-TogWachale Corridor which consists of a new highway, a free zone at Berbera and dry-port at Tog-Wachale for transit goods.

This recent development is excepted to be facilitating step for the growth of trade between the two nations.

Ethiopia with a population of over 100 million people is now ranked as Africa’s fastest-growing economy according to data from the IMF and is a landlocked country which its import/export trade mainly depends on the neighboring Red Sea ports of Djibouti and Berbera.