April 4 2014

 Hargeisa has instructed a British lawyer to negotiate with the French group Bolloré to hammer out the details of the agreement to manage Berbera port.

Meetings began about two weeks ago between representatives of Bolloré Africa Logistics and the British law practice McCue & Partners to work on an agreement for the French group to run Berbera port. In fact, several months ago the Somaliland government instructed the firm’s main partner,Jason Daniel McCue, 44, to look for funding to develop the Berbera corridor towards Ethiopia. This is a vast project including an oil pipeline, estimated to cost a total of around $2.5 billion. This mandate was attributed to the Berbera Development Company (BDC) founded by McCue in London in April 2013 to make the Somaliland port into a logistics hub for the whole region.

McCue and BDC have consequently also become Bolloré’s primary contact points for Somaliland. BDC has three directors in addition to McCue, who is interested in security via his MODA Alliance Group. They are the Britons John Richard Moore, 45, who heads John Moore & Co and Ibrahim Ali Yusuf, 41, plus the Canadian Ahmed Mohamed Abokor, 48. The latter lives in Djibouti, where he is in partnership with the businessman Mohamed Said Guedi in the company Afro Shnagai-Djibouti. He is also one of the directors of Pontus Marine Ltd (ION 1359) – an industrial fishing company in Somaliland founded last year in London – alongside the British lawyer from Somaliland, Mohammed Yusef who is moreover the founder of Invicta Capital. Pontus Marine has one heavyweight as a non-executive director: the Conservative MP Henry Bellingham, a former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in charge of African affairs.

  Source: Indian Ocean Newsletter

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1 COMMENT

  1. McCue & Partners are specialists in criminal law. You need attorneys that specialize in global contract law.

  2. If Somaliland can pull this off, our whole destiny will change. But I doubt we will. all kinds of things can go horribly wrong. Bollore could get cold feet. DPP which runs Djibouti port can pull massive strings to scupper this competition. Ethiopia might be reluctatnt to have such intimate link with Somaliland, a country now heaving with Salafised fanatics who might infect its tradiotionally modertae Muslim populations.

    Berberawis can throw massive, ignornat tantrums (and stones) the way our grandfathers did at Sheikh in the 1930s losing us what later became Makarere college.

    And I am an optimist.

  3. The biggest hurdle is the Berbera tribal chiefitans and their BS about one tribe ruling everything. They rather it sits there dead like the cement than few guys outside their habar bring innovation, money and employment.

    I would personally shoot all of them.

    • Punk. persuasion and education are a better approach. Can not just kill people because of disagreements.
      Listen their arguments and find a solution to the problem..

  4. Ballore will definitely talk to the government of Somaliland, and not a tribal chieftains. We have an elected government that suppose to represent the people of the country.

    • Initially Berberawians will welcome Ballore or DP World whoever comes but when they try to change the status quo that is when the trouble will start until the investor is forced to come to terms with the reality on the ground.

  5. All Somalilanders will reap the benefits as Berabera port gets developed to the highest standards there is.

  6. Bollore should never talk to chieftains. That discussion should be left to government and peopel of somaliland

  7. to all of those who are undermining the people of Saaxil, let me tell you that you are all wrong. berbera people will welcome any beneficial plans that could lead to a development in their country. the misunderstanding that happened previously was because of the lack of communication to the community there. they were afraid to loose the only lifeline they had therefore, they reacted to the previous project with rejection. what our beloved government need to do is to talk to , educate and explain to the people of berbera the benefits that this project/business will bring to them firstly and to the nation as a whole secondly. we have all participated in CEERIGABO ROAD fundraising because we were told the importance and the great benefits that we will gain as a country .

  8. This project will result in monkey-donkey biz. I know those who themselves Saxil people more than who posted their coments here. Saxil people mentality is that Berbera ports belongs to them,. Remember Berbera Cement issue. .

    • Our prophet (SAW) said say (khyer) which means good and positive or be quiet in a hadith. So because nobody knows who you are dose not mean ALLAH is not seeing. I would like to advice you to customise your message and to stop being offensive.

  9. Cise Muse should oppose the takeover of their port by BOLLORE Now or they'll never see their port again. Oppose now the deal.

  11. Let the Berberawis and Somalilanders have no illusions about what will happen to Berbera if it is not enlarged and connected to the Ethiopian hinterland. it will die. Not a slow death but fairly quick one. DPP, one of the world's biggest Port owners, are active enlarging Djibouti. They are building an extension at Dorale custom-made for Livestock export. That is Berbera's lifeblood. The Saudis and other Arabs encouraged by Somalia and Djibouti will simply give Dorale the monopoly of livestock export on 'animal welfare and efficiency' grounds.

    Ethiopian and Somaliland livestiock traders will move to Djib. Berbera will be Bulaxar in about 5 years.

    Do not say you have not been warned

  12. On top it say 15 comments. Here i see none. I know therea re comemnts because I commented on it last week. Where are the coments? teething problems due to the changes?