By Mohammed Omar Ahmed and Simon Marks
Friday September 9, 2022
Somalia will open a deep-water port on its northern coast
next month, with a road link forging a new trade route connecting Ethiopia’s
south-eastern region with the city of Gara’ad.
The development is part of a $531 million investment plan
aimed at boosting the export of livestock, fish, minerals and agricultural
commodities, according to Saed Faadi, the chief executive officer of Wadagsan
LLC, the developer.
The first two deep-water berths in the Puntland state’s city
will be capable of docking 40,000-ton container ships and provide services such
as modern loading equipment, refrigerated storage facilities and feeding
grounds for animals.
“The port will also provide easy access to food imports from
the outside world,” Faadi said in an interview. “This will allow food to be
less expensive and enhance food security in the region, which is plagued by
droughts and famine.”
The Gara’ad port will be the Horn of Africa nation’s fifth
deep-water facility providing access to the Indian Ocean, but it’s the closest
to Ethiopia, a landlocked country of 115 million people whose economy was one
of the fastest growing in the world before the coronavirus pandemic and
conflict curbed expansion.
Somalia exported $1.5 billion worth of goods and services in
2021, a third of which was livestock, according to government data. That was a
30% increase from the previous year.
The nation, which has been battling an insurgency for years,
is hoping successful counter-piracy operations will be a boon for shipping. The
global industry last month agreed to declassify its coastline as a “high-risk
area.”
Another two berths, which will be deeper and wider, are due
to be completed by the end of 2024, Faadi said.