Berbera-Wajale road consultative meeting reported

On 8 July 2021, Somali Dispatch reported that Somaliland Ports Manager Eng. Said Hassan Abdillahi attended a meeting in Hargeisa on the construction of the Berbera-Wajale road, also called the Berbera Corridor.

The conference was attended by various ministers, experts and officials, according to the report. Somali Dispatch did not name them, nor did it state a venue, an exact date beyond that day, or the institution that convened the meeting.

Somali Dispatch reported that the meeting discussed the latest agreement between Somaliland and Ethiopia in 2016. The report did not identify the agreement, give a date beyond the year, or describe its terms.

The meeting focused on customs, transportation and meeting international standards when entering into agreements, the report said.

Somali Dispatch described the preliminary meeting as reportedly for Somaliland officials to discuss issues related to an Ethiopian delegation that was expected to sign the agreement soon. The report attributed that description to unspecified sources; it did not say whether any signing occurred.

The report also carried a sentence stating, "The governments of Ethiopia, Somaliland and DP World have signed Berbera port agreement and to build Berbers-Wajale road construction." As published, the sentence is grammatically unclear. It does not say what was signed, when, for how much or by which contracting parties. That sentence conflicts with the earlier description of an expected signing by an Ethiopian delegation, because one part of the report says an agreement has been signed and another says it is expected to be signed.

Somali Dispatch did not state a contract value, project cost or funding amount for the Berbera-Wajale road. It gave no construction start date, completion date or target date. It named no contractor, consultant, developer or client. It did not record any outcome or decision from the meeting.

The report does not establish what, if anything, happened after 8 July 2021. Whether the expected Ethiopian delegation signing took place, and whether any road construction contract was signed, remains unknown on the basis of the Somali Dispatch report.