400 million US dollar launch of the Beira Port Highway project in Ethiopia and Somaliland

The Governments of Somaliland and Ethiopia have launched a 400 million-dollar road project to connect the Ethiopian border town of Togo to the port of Beira in Somaliland. At the launch ceremony, Somaliland President Mousse Buchy Abdi said the road would provide an additional seaport for inland Ethiopia and greatly facilitate trade between the two countries.

It is estimated that Somalia imports to Ethiopia exceed $800 million per year. The 72-kilometer road is an ambitious strategic road project that will also benefit Somaliland from the winds of change sweeping across the Horn of Africa. The agreement calls for infrastructure investment to upgrade the existing Bedouin port and to establish a new adjacent container port.

It is expected to take 18 months to complete.

Mustafa Mohammed Omar, Vice-president of the Somalia regional region of Ethiopia, said that the Berberati-Togokar corridor helped to promote import and export trade in Ethiopia's growing economy. The road project is funded by the Abu Dhabi Development Fund.

The two countries signed a joint venture agreement on Berberati Seaport earlier in 2018, while Dubai held a 51% per cent stake. The port world of Dubai launched the construction of the port of Berbera and signed a 30-year concession agreement to manage the port on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden.

The capacity of the port will increase by 50% after the expansion. At the same time, Ethiopia has played a unique role in achieving infrastructure-driven economic integration and deploying peacekeeping missions in hotspots in Africa. The wise steps taken by the country to end hostilities and seek economic and political partnership augur well for a new era of good-neighbourly relations in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere.

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