Somalia: State owned media disagrees with Parliament over legitimacy of Berbera port in Somaliland

by: Staff Reporter | 26 June 2021 12:28
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    Somalia: State owned media disagrees with Parliament over legitimacy of Berbera port in Somaliland

    MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) - Social media was flooded with reactions after Somalia's state-owned media this week reported the launching of a new container terminal at Berbera Port by government of Somaliland and DP World, terming the coverage a c

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MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) - Social media was flooded with reactions after Somalia's state-owned media this week reported the launching of a new container terminal at Berbera Port by government of Somaliland and DP World, terming the coverage a contrary to the existing two-year-old ban on the project approved the country's parliament.


In march 2018, the lower house of Somalia’s parliament voted to ban a United Arab Emirates' state-owned ports operator from the horn of Africa nation.

In a resolution, the parliament said DP World had deliberately infringed on the country’s sovereignty noting the UAE government owned ports operator was no longer welcome in Somalia.

Somalis who took to Twitter to share their frustrations on the coverage, is Yasir. The SNTV’s tweet wondered how Somalia made a U-turn by allowing its media to cover the completion of the first phase of the port’s expansion, move



"Previously you used to say that it was an illegal deal and Parliament did not approve it, what has changed and what happened, where are you now?” the post reads.

Schamah said "Somalia parliament termed the DP world deal with Somaliland as null and void back in 2018, today they can’t help but congratulate the progress that has been achieved.”

The development comes as the breakaway Somaliland celebrated the inauguration of a new container terminal with work under way to further expand the terminal's capacity.

The new container terminal with a deep draft of 17m, a quay of 400m can handle the largest container vessels.

The terminal will increase the port’s container capacity from current 150,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) to 500,000 TEUs annually.

"With the new terminal, along with the second phase of expansion and economic zone along the Berbera corridor, we are now firmly positioned to further develop and grow our economy through increased trade, attracting foreign direct investment and creating jobs," Muse Bihi Abdi, president of Somaliland, said.

Early 2018, DP World signed a deal with Ethiopia and Somaliland for the operating rights to Berbera.

Meanwhile, some analysts argue Dubai’s DP World is trying to bring to its knees by offering Ethiopia, which relies on Djibouti's port and transport-related infrastructure for 95% of its maritime trade, a stake at Berbera port.

Somaliland and DP World deal gave the Ethiopian government a 19 percent stake in the port of Berbera while DP World would retain a 51 percent stake and Somaliland would get 30 percent.

In 2018, Djibouti ended a contract with Dubai’s DP World to run its Doraleh Container Terminal.


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