Somaliland and Ethiopia have launched a US$ 400 million road project linking the two countries, ADV learnt here on Monday.

Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi Abdi and senior Ethiopian government officials laid the cornerstone to the project on Friday, sources.

When completed in 18 months, the road will link Somaliland’s Berbera Port with Ethiopia’s border town of Togochale.

It will provide access for landlocked Ethiopia to an additional seaport and significantly boost trade between the two countries.

Speaking at the occasion, President Abdi described the project as one that demonstrates the “warm people-to-people ties” between the two countries.

For his part, Mustafa Mohammed Omar, the regional deputy President of Ethiopia’s Somali Region said the Berbera-Togochale corridor was instrumental in facilitating import-export trade for Ethiopia’s growing economy.

The 72 kilometre-road is an ambitious and strategic road project that will also enable Somaliland to benefit greatly from the winds of change blowing across the Horn of Africa.

The ‘New Business Ethiopia’ newspaper explained that the road project which was launched on Friday, is being funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

The source recalled that in October 2018, the Dubai Ports World launched the construction work of the Berbera port and signed a 30-year concession agreement to administer the port which is located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden.

The source also recalled that a few years ago, Ethiopia signed a 19 per cent joint venture agreement with Somaliland for the Berbera seaport while Dubai held 51 per cent of shares.

Source: African Daily Voice

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