The global giant in port operations takes a 30-year lease on Port of Berbera, SomalilandDP World’s landmark deal with authorities in Somaliland to jointly develop the Port of Berbera is a welcome development for Ethiopia, according to a senior Ethiopian government official.
The Dubai-based company has signed an agreement with the Government of Somaliland, a self-declared breakaway republic of Somalia, to co-invest 442 million dollars in the Port, to manage it under concession for 30 years. The deal was made early last week in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, between its Foreign Minister, Saad Sli Shire (PhD), and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chief executive of DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators.The company first came to the region in the early 2000s, after signing a 20-year concession to run the Port of Djibouti, Ethiopia’s lone outlet to the sea. Since then, DP World has invested hundreds of millions of dollars developing brand new oil and container terminals in Doraleh, 13Km south of the Port of Djibouti. Eventually, relations between the company and authorities in Djibouti soared, thus prompting Dubai to search for an alternative destination in which to invest.
The businessman who persuaded Dubai to invest in Djibouti, the dissident Abdurahiman Boreh, is believed to be behind last week’s deal, brokering it with Somaliland officials, according to a person knowledgeable of the process. Boreh’s hand in the process is marked by his presence in Hargessa at the signing on May 9, 2016.
By Tesfa Mogessie
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Disclaimer: There are factual flaws in this piece. We allow it as it is an opinion of a writer and not that of either Addis Fortune or Somtribune.
