Somaliland is betting on oil after the discovery of “abundant” reserves was confirmed last month, the Somaliland republic’s Foreign Minister tells The Africa Report on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) summit.

He at the same time underpinned the fact that Somaliland’s sovereignty would NOT at any one time whatsoever open the so called ‘Pandora Box’ because the issue of Somaliland was legally tenable since it had its own borders at independence.

Dr. Essa Keyd has been one of the busier diplomats at this week’s gathering. His territory is not a member of the AU, so he is unable to attend its official sessions. But that has not stopped him from making the case for his country’s sovereignty, after more than three decades of de facto independence.