In brief
- TradeMark Africa reports that transit times along the Berbera Corridor fell by 38%, attributing the change in part to the completed 22.5 km Hargeisa Bypass.
- The bypass was funded by the UK's Prosperity Fund, delivered by TradeMark Africa with the Somaliland Ministry of Transport and Roads Development, and reported complete in 2023.
- The finding comes from the Endline Berbera Corridor Study of August 2023 and is an implementer result, so corridor-wide change cannot be credited to the bypass alone.
Contents
TradeMark Africa reports that transit times along the Berbera Corridor fell by 38%, attributed in part to the completed 22.5 km Hargeisa Bypass. The implementer page covers the 2020 to 2023 period and cites the Endline Berbera Corridor Study of August 2023. The page is a retrospective account, and the bypass is reported complete in 2023.
What the source records
TradeMark Africa states that the bypass was 22.5 km long, funded by the UK's Prosperity Fund under a project with TMA, and delivered with the Government of Somaliland through the Ministry of Transport and Roads Development. Civil works were carried out by COCC-GCI as a joint venture, with design and supervision by Kagga & Partners and oversight from TMA's infrastructure team and a government project implementation unit. The source attributes the 38% corridor transit-time reduction partly to the completed bypass, citing the Endline Berbera Corridor Study, August 2023.
What it means on site
The source describes the mechanism: heavy traffic that previously threaded through Hargeisa's streets is diverted around the city, so through consignments can stay on one all-weather road. For a haulier or a client moving goods between Berbera and Ethiopia, that points to steadier journey times rather than shorter distances. The bypass also shifts design questions to the sections that carry diverted loads, such as pavement build-up, drainage and junction layouts at the points where traffic rejoins the corridor. Any such detail has to come from the project drawings, not from this page.
What the source does not establish
The figure is an implementer claim from a study dated August 2023, and the page is undated. Because the bypass forms part of the wider Berbera Corridor upgrade, and the source itself says the result came only partly from the bypass, the 38% cannot be credited to the bypass alone; port modernisation and adjoining works are named as parallel activities. The source does not give the baseline volumes behind the figure, a breakdown by section or vehicle class, the current condition of the bypass, or any post-2023 measurement. A plan or a study finding is not a measured present state.
What to do next
Ask the Ministry of Transport and Roads Development in Hargeisa for the Endline Berbera Corridor Study of August 2023, or at least its methodology and baseline traffic counts. Ask which sections were counted and over what period, so the 38% can be checked against current corridor conditions.
Frequently asked questions
Who paid for the Hargeisa Bypass?
TradeMark Africa states that the UK's Prosperity Fund provided the financing, and that the project was delivered with the Government of Somaliland through the Ministry of Transport and Roads Development.
What figure does the source give for corridor transit times?
The source reports a 38% reduction in transit times along the Berbera Corridor, attributed partly to the completed Hargeisa Bypass and citing the Endline Berbera Corridor Study of August 2023.
Sources
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Berbera and Somaliland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.