INFRASTRUCTUR PILLAR ANALYSIS
Continuing with the infrastructure pillar analysis, the national development plan allocates 11% ($53.69Millions) of the total infrastructure development budget which is ($486.99 millions) to civil aviation development. The civil aviation sub budget is further allocated into; Hargeisa airport development ($35.7736 millions), Berbera airport development ($11.76368 millions), and regional airports developments ($6.032658 millions).
Figure 1Airports budget allocations in millions (Total airport budget: $53.569 millions).Source: NDP.
Further, Hargeisa airport development budget which is the lion share of the civil aviation development budget (66.77%) was further sub allocated as shown in the chart below.
With the assistance of Kuwait development fund, Hargeisa airport runway has been resurfaced, security fence, lighting and fire fighting system has been installed. In addition the existing terminal has been renovated and refurbished.However,the new terminal for Hargeisa airport in the national development plan is not being constructed.Berbera airport new terminal funded by Kuwait has been constructed and new security fence has being installed. However issues of cost and quality have been reported as far as the construction of Berbera airport is concerned. Some work has been done on Burao airport by the community led Burao development committee such as fencing. Other regional airports are still on the plan to be developed and make them functional.
Financing this civil aviation development plan, the NDP planned to receive 80% of it from external sources such as Kuwait development and UNDP/ICAO.Immaterial amounts were planned from local sources. Hargiesa airport is a revenue generating institution with a constant and growing revenue streams from different sources such as charges on traveling passengers, aircraft landing fees, parking fees, handling fees and constant rebates from UNDP/ICAO which manages Somaliland airspace. Further it receives comparatively high annual budget from the treasury. Thus, an institution with that ample and diversified revenue sources to seek most of its development finance externally is a question worth asking. Why not the National development plan foresaw the development financing potential of our airports and plan ways to streamline and improve financial management stewardship of those vital revenue sources and set up systems for making sure allocation of good part of it to airport infrastructure development. Staff salaries and other current expenditures of our airports are funded from the national budget via the Ministry of civil aviation which is in charge of our airports. According to the table below, Hargeisa airport aka Egal international airport generates almost 12 million dollars annually, which is sufficient to build terminals and runways, as the aviation Ministry’s recurrent budget is financed via the national budget. The much talked about Somaliland development fund (SDF) provides only $14 million per year, close to what Hargeisa airport produces annually.
| Description | Unit cost | Total aircraft and passenger movement | Total revenue 2015 |
| Security charge on every passenger | $20 | 102960 | $2,059,200 |
| Aircraft landing fees | $450 | 7344 | $3,304,800 |
| Aircraft handling fees | $900 | 7344 | $6,609,600 |
| Total Annual revenues of Hargeisa airport | $11,973,600 |
| Description | 2012 figures | Adjustment | 2015 figures |
| Passenger movement | 85800 | 20% | 102960 |
| Aircraft movement | 6120 | 20% | 7344 |
By: Mohammed Dahir Ahmed
M_ddahir@hotmail.co.uk
Senior Financial Consultant and Independent Political Analyst.
Hargeisa, Somaliland
