Efficiency is more important than ownership said Somaliland’s Finance Minister, Saad Ali Shire (PhD), in a press conference held last week in Somaliland’s Capital_Hargessa.
“You may have a port, but it will be absolutely worthless unless it is efficient” he adds. Ethiopia’s shortest corridor, Berbera Port is only 900 kilometers from the capital Addis Ababa and tracks can be unloaded in Addis within 24 hours.
“We are currently working to make the Berbera port the most efficient port in the region,” Ali Shire told to Ethiopian journalists visiting Berbera Port and the Berbera Coridor. He added that the ultimate goal of Somaliland is to provide the most efficient service regardless of who owns the port.
Djibouti’s port handles 95% of Ethiopian import and export transactions and currently Ethiopia, the largest landlocked country in Eastern Africa, relies heavily on the port of Djibouti for both import and export.
According to Somaliland’s Finance Minister, Dr. Saad Ali Shire, relying solely on one gateway is not a wise decision.
Dr. Saad added, “Some believe it is a zero-sum game in which if Berbera gains, Djibouti loses; however, we believe there is enough business for not just one or two, but several ports.”
Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics, Dagmawit Moges stated the importance of getting multiple gateways and ending dependency on a single port, while she presented a nine-month performance to the Parliament.
Berbera Port is now 80% completed and, has already begun providing an efficient alternative to Ethiopia, particularly the country’s east, according to Supachai Wattanaveerachai, CEO of Dubai Port in Berbera.
Currently, the port has a capacity of 500,000 TEU, in its first phase of expansion and the corridor is expected to be completed at the end of the current Fiscal year.
Berbera port is partly owned by DP world- an Emirati multinational Logistics Company based in Dubai. The port will provide a reliable alternative to Ethiopian inbound and outbound cargo.
The Logistic giants have a global network of 64 countries, in which it runs logistics terminals, marine services, ports, and economic zones in 10 African countries.
