SUMMARY

• Port services competition is growing in East and Horn of Africa after the construction of 400 metres quay and a 250,000-square-metre extension of Berbera Port in Somaliland .
• The expansion will give the port capacity to handle up to 500,000 containers yearly.
• Dubai-based port operator, DP World which took over management of the port in May 2017 for the next 25 years announced the completion of the expansion at a cost of $442 million.

Port services competition is growing in East and Horn of Africa after the construction of 400 metres quay and a 250,000-square-metre extension of Berbera Port in Somaliland .

The expansion will give the port capacity to handle up to 500,000 containers yearly. Dubai-based port operator, DP World which took over management of the port in May 2017 for the next 25 years announced the completion of the expansion at a cost of $442 million.

The new facility will provide another connection between Ethiopia and global markets, and a transshipment hub where large container ships can offload their freight to feeder ships able to negotiate the Horn of Africa’s shallow ports.

“We have just completed a 400m quay and a new extension at Berbera Port, Somaliland. Once operational, it will increase the terminal’s capacity by 500,000 TEUs per year, and will further strengthen Berbera as a major regional trade hub servicing the Horn of Africa,” read a tweet by DP-World.

During the takeover of the port’s management in 2017, DP World chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said his company will invest close to $500 million for the extension to the port’s storage area, as well as equipment such as modern gantry cranes and reach stackers to facilitate its infrastructure growth and enable the port connect to global markets.

The expansion is a big boost to Somaliland’s economy 60 percent of which is made up of livestock exports. DP World took over the port in May 2017 and it has a 65 per cent stake in the operating company, which itself has a 30-year concession with a possible 10-year extension.

DP World will pay Somaliland will pay $5 million a year as well as 10 per cent of all port revenue.
Somaliland is a breakaway republic of Somalia, and is not recognised by the United Nation as an independent state and the DP World deal treats the republic as a sovereign entity and may strengthen its claim to become a nation state.

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