Somaliland:President Silanyo to Meet with Ethiopian Premier

By Goth Mohamed Goth

H.E President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud (Silanyo) currently on a working visit in the United Arab Emirates is expected to meet with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn Presidential palace in Addis Abba, capital of Ethiopia in the coming days , reilable sources confirmed.

The leaders of the two countries are expected to discuss matters regarding security, trade, investment, education and Border. The country is set to strengthening commercial ties with Ethiopia.

High on the agenda will be the Berbera corridor which currently serves both land-locked Ethiopia and Somaliland and has the potential to become a regional trade hub.

Earlier in the year, a visiting Ethiopian delegation assessed the condition of the road links between Berbera and Addis Ababa, the Berbera port facilities, the Hargeisa and Berbera Airports and established current and future demand.

Although current demand along the corridor is relatively low, the consultants anticipated that reconstruction of the area and the growing export of livestock will encourage increased traffic. The Team also compared the costs and advantages of Ethiopia using the port of Berbera with those of competing ports, including Djibouti, Assab, Massawa, Mombassa and Port Sudan.

The members of the two countries delegations established that the development of the port of Berbera is the key to improved regional trade links. Port specialists analyzed the current depth and capacity for each of the existing quays and considered a number of proposals for improving the port, including the expansion of existing quays and yards to provide increased capacity, the development of the “American Quay” to accommodate large ships and the rehabilitation of the oil jetty. In addition, the Team recommended the preparation of a port master plan to ensure that all future developments are carefully integrated.