In brief
- Horn Diplomat, citing The Reporter Ethiopia, said on 4 December 2021 that 85 per cent of the Berbera–Togochale cross‑boundary road had been completed.
- The 234 km highway was planned to be finished by the end of 2022, with the Berbera–Hargeisa section scheduled for April 2022 and the Kalabaydh–Wuchale road and Hargeisa bypass for July 2022.
- No evidence has been published on whether those targets were met; the contractor, consultant, and final cost remain unverified.
On 4 December 2021, Horn Diplomat reported that 85 per cent of construction of the cross‑boundary road linking Somaliland’s port city of Berbera with Ethiopia’s border town of Togochale had been completed. The report attributed the progress figure and project details to The Reporter Ethiopia.
According to Horn Diplomat, the 234 kilometre highway was planned to be completed by the end of 2022. The Berbera–Hargeisa road was scheduled for completion by April 2022, while the Kalabaydh–Wuchale section and the Hargeisa bypass were each scheduled to be completed in July 2022.
The report valued the project at USD 400 million and said it started in 2019 with funds from the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. It did not name a contractor, consultant, or implementing entity, and did not specify how the USD 400 million figure was composed. No financing agreements were cited.
Horn Diplomat described the road as the first phase of the Berbera Corridor and said completion was expected to boost trade volume between Ethiopia and Somaliland by 30 percent. The report also stated that the road would position Somaliland as an emerging competitor to Djibouti and Kenya for Ethiopian importers and exporters. Currently, Ethiopia uses Djibouti port for over 90 percent of its international trade, the report said.
Somaliland’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mohamed Ahmed Mohamoud, told The Reporter Ethiopia that Somaliland intended to increase Ethiopia’s use of Berbera port, including by incorporating Ethiopia in port operations. Under an agreement between Ethiopia, Somaliland and DP World, Ethiopia owns 19 percent of shares in Berbera port, with DP World holding 51 percent and Somaliland 30 percent. The port was to be managed and developed by DP World on a 30‑year concession.
The Horn Diplomat article did not report construction progress beyond 85 per cent as of 4 December 2021. It did not confirm whether the April and July 2022 section completion targets were met, nor whether the overall project was finished by the end of 2022. The contractor and consultant remain unidentified, and the article contained no completion certificates or actual completion dates for any road section.
Frequently asked questions
Which sections of the Berbera–Ethiopia highway were scheduled for completion by mid‑2022?
Horn Diplomat reported that the Berbera–Hargeisa road was scheduled for completion by April 2022, and the Kalabaydh–Wuchale road and Hargeisa bypass were each scheduled for completion in July 2022.
How long is the Berbera–Ethiopia highway and what was its reported cost?
The highway is 234 kilometres long and was valued at USD 400 million, according to Horn Diplomat citing The Reporter Ethiopia.
What ownership structure did the report describe for Berbera port?
Under an agreement between Ethiopia, Somaliland and DP World, Ethiopia owns 19 percent, DP World 51 percent, and Somaliland 30 percent of Berbera port shares, with DP World managing the port on a 30‑year concession.