Berbera Port Targets 30% of Ethiopian Cargo

On 26 November 2019, Somaliland Standard reported that Somaliland was targeting more than 30 percent of Ethiopian container cargo as construction work for the first-phase expansion of the port of Berbera progressed halfway.

The same report said the Somaliland Port Authority expected the expansion to be completed by October 2021. The first phase consisted of building a 400-meter quay and a 250,000-square-meter yard extension, awarded to Shafa Al Nahda. Somaliland Standard reported the expansion would cost 442 million USD, without specifying the scope or financing details.

The report identified the General Manager of the Somaliland Port Authority as Said Abudilahi, who was quoted as saying the expansion process was going well and would be completed on time. He also reportedly said that lack of communication, mixing up Somaliland and Mogadishu, and poor infrastructure made Ethiopians reluctant to use the port.

Somaliland Standard further reported that DP World held a 51 percent stake in Berbera Port, Ethiopia 19 percent, and Somaliland the remainder. A 250-kilometer divided highway between Berbera and the Ethiopian border town of Togochale was being built by a UAE company and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, with completion expected in May 2021.

The report also stated that a joint coordination committee was formed at ministerial level to handle trade and legal aspects, and that trenching activity would begin after 10 days. It mentioned a tugboat purchased the previous year capable of pushing 50 thousand tons, and a tender for another.

The source is a single news report from Somaliland Standard. No subsequent data on actual cargo volumes, market share, or project completion is included in the evidence.