DUBAI, March 1 (Cabays Media) — Ethiopia acquires 19 percent stake of the Somaliland’s main port of Berbera, following its signing of an agreement Thursday with Dubai Port World (DPW) and the Somaliland Port Authority.

As the biggest shareholder of the port of Berbera, DP World announced that it would hold 51 percent stake of the project, Somaliland, 30 percent, and Ethiopia, the remaining 19 percent.

The government of Ethiopia will also invest in infrastructure construction to develop the Berbera Corridor, which was located on the Horn of Africa as a trade gateway for the landlocked country, according to DP World.

DP World also announced plans to construct an additional berth at the port and to add new equipment, in line with a master development plan of Berbera which the company has already started implementing.

The first cranes are scheduled to arrive later this year, the company confirmed.

“Ethiopia is home to approximately 110 million people. The ports of Berbera and Doraleh will provide significant transport capacity to the region,” DP World Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said.

Saad Al Shire, Somaliland’s  minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said that the regional economy is growing at a pace that facilitates the development of multiple ports.

“The expansion of the port will increase the capacity of the region to accommodate the increase in trade,” he added.

The Port of Berbera in Somaliland. Photographer: Zacharias Abubeker/AFP via Getty Images

The people  of Somaliland welcomed the deal with mix feelings but opposition parties are demanding to scrutinise the deal and closely monitor DP World for implementing all agreements including DP World building a highway that connects Berbera port to the border with Ethiopia.

Somaliland has withdrew the union it entered in 1960 with Somalia after bloody war that lasted from 1982 to 1991. Somaliland is fully independent republic with freely elected president and vice president and political opposition parties that hold accountable for the government.

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