In brief
- Horn Diplomat reported on 4 June 2022 that the Port of Berbera had undergone a major expansion with over US$244 million attracted in Phase 1 and a five-fold increase in container handling to 500,000 TEUs annually.
- The report is an opinion piece by John Steenhuisen and does not provide official confirmation of the concession terms, investment commitment status, or capacity baselines.
- The current status of Phase 2 development is not established by the 2022 report.
On 4 June 2022, Horn Diplomat published an article by John Steenhuisen describing the Port of Berbera in Somaliland as a successful example of long-term infrastructure concessioning. The piece, an opinion and analysis article, reported a series of milestones, but many details remain unverified and the current status of the development since that date is not established.
Steenhuisen reported that the port had been under the control of the state entity, the Somaliland Port Authority (SPA), and was inefficient, prompting a decision to concession it long-term to an international operator. According to the report, a deal with Dubai Ports World was based on a 30-year concession in a 65:35 joint venture with the SPA. However, the report does not specify which party holds the majority stake, nor does it cite official confirmation of the agreement terms.
The article stated that port capacity had massively expanded and the development was in phase 2 as of that date. Phase 1 reportedly attracted over US$244 million of investment in infrastructure, equipment and systems, though the report does not say whether that investment was fully deployed or merely attracted. Among the claimed performance gains: general cargo, break and break bulk tonnage had doubled; container handling capacity had increased five-fold to 500,000 TEUs annually; and phase 2, then underway, was expected to quadruple container capacity with a further $200 million of investment. The report did not provide baseline figures or a source for the cargo tonnage doubling.
On the World Bank's index of port efficiency, Horn Diplomat reported that Berbera ranked at position 184 while Cape Town ranked at 365. The article did not give the year of that index. It also stated that the timeline from the Somaliland Parliament passing enabling legislation to that achievement was a mere three years, but it did not identify the specific legislation or the exact achievement milestone.
The report framed these developments against Somaliland's 30-year history of self-declared independence from Somalia and its lack of diplomatic recognition. No official confirmation from DP World, the Somaliland Port Authority, or the World Bank is referenced for any of the figures or timelines.
As of the publication date, the article described phase 2 as currently underway. It does not provide any information about the status of that phase after 4 June 2022.
Frequently asked questions
What was the status of the Port of Berbera development as of June 2022?
According to Horn Diplomat on 4 June 2022, the port had undergone a massive expansion and was in phase 2 of the development.
Which claims about the port's performance and investment were made in that report?
The report claimed over US$244 million of investment in Phase 1, a doubling of general cargo tonnage, a five-fold increase in container handling to 500,000 TEUs annually, and plans for a further $200 million in Phase 2.
What is the current (post-2022) status of the port's phase 2 development?
The Horn Diplomat article from 2022-06-04 does not provide any information on the status of phase 2 after that date.