2024-01-04 23:49:18
Ethiopia and Somaliland announced that they had reached an agreement on the use of the port of Berbera. The commercial port has been under the management of DP World since 2017. The group plans to invest $442 million for the Berbera corridor in order to establish itself as an alternative to the traditional Djibouti route.
On the ground, a lot of work has been carried out, testifies the senator for French people abroad, Olivier Cadic. He visited the site last July. “ There is a brand new deep water port where I was able to observe expansion work. I visited the airport and there is an airstrip which is the longest in Africa. The brand new terminal which might accommodate cargo planes. I also saw the free zone which is also brand new. I was able to travel on the brand new road which connects the capital Hargeisa to the port of Berbera, see a magnificent brand new roundregarding, a sort of ring road which allows you to avoid the center of Hargeisa and go directly towards the Ethiopia. So, we see that a lot of resources have been put into creating this new corridor. »
The ambition would be to see 500 trucks traveling there per day while the quality of this road of more than 900 kilometers is very uneven. However, activities at the port of Berbera are well underway. “ On the statistics, at least from 2022, there were around 123,000 containers that had been handled, indicates Yann Alix, general delegate of the Sefacil foundation, specialist in African port issues. So that means that there is still room, obviously, it also means that despite everything, Berbera manages to attract regular lines, not necessarily always to the detriment of Djibouti, but in any case, it creates an alternative. And so, for DP World, which sells a bit of a turnkey model of building a port and then a special economic zone where we can implement industrial, processing activity and then invest in the corridor. I don’t know if we can speak of success or failure. In any case, a real port alternative has been born. »
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An opportunity particularly for the most isolated regions of southern Ethiopia. Ethiopia which exports agricultural products in particular for more than 4 billion dollars annually and which also imports hydrocarbons, semi-finished and consumer goods for more than 18 billion. “ I really see healthy competition between two corridors with Djibouti which has very strong experience and expertise with respect to shippers and transport organizers and Ethiopian logisticians. But the latter are also motivated by the possibility of perhaps also being able to negotiate transit times or freight rates which are quite attractive through Somaliland via Berbera. », note Yann Alix.
However, unlike Djibouti, tariff and customs conditions between Ethiopia and Somaliland are still unfavorable. Also note that in 2018, Ethiopia had already wanted to take a stake in the port of Berbera before seeing the initiative fail.
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