Somalia Government Gives Ethiopia the Green Light to Use Berbera Port

[Deeq A.]

Ethiopia seeks to use Berbera Port under a “dubious” agreement

Hargeisa (PP News Desk) — In a surprising turn of events, the Federal Government of Somalia has granted Ethiopia permission to use the Berbera Port. Last week, Mr Alemu Sime, Minister of Transport and Logistics of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, paid a visit to the Berbera Port and reportedly signed an agreement with the administration of Somaliland. The new agreement contrasts with a previous one in which Ethiopia had acquired shares of the port under DP World’s concession.

Alemu Semi visited Berbera last week

“While Ethiopia initially seemed committed to backing the endeavour through a 19% direct stake in DP World Berbera — which substantiated Berbera’s vision to become an alternative to the Djibouti port, which handles about 95% of Ethiopia’s external trade — the Ethiopian government has not followed up on this intention” reported FDI Intelligence. The Ethiopian mainstream media did not report on Alemu’s visit to Somaliland administration, a region that unilaterally seceded from Somalia in 1991.

Despite the Federal Government of Somalia’s silence, the secret agreement violates the Somalia’s sovereignty and strengthens Ethiopia’s search for a seaport, caused by Eritrea’s secession in 1993, which left Ethiopia landlocked. While it remains uncertain how much Berbera will reduce Ethiopia’s reliance on Djibouti Port, a journalist based in Hargeysa expressed concerns about the secretive nature of the agreement, suggesting that Ethiopia’s long-term goal is to secure a seaport, even if it requires force. “Emperor Menelek claimed a right to Berbera, then a British Protectorate, citing his control over Somali clans — Gabiley Clan and Gedobursi in Abyssinia said the journalist.

Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi kept his cabinet in the dark about the new Berbera Agreement

Ethiopia has peacekeeping troops in Somalia under ATMIS, and exploits the Chapter 7 article that limits the sovereignty of Somalia, a country whose national infrastructures are vulnerable by dubious takeover by foreign companies.

Last year, Capital, a weekly business newspaper, reported that, according to Dr. Saad Ali Shire, the Minister of Finance of the Somaliland Administration “Ethiopia losses its opportunity to the ownership of 19 percent of Berbera Port as the government failed to fulfill certain conditions. Ethiopian officials however said that there is no binding agreement to enforce this.”

© Puntland Post, 2023

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