The delegation was comprised of Nils Wormer, Director of the Regional Programme Security Dialogue for East Africa (RP SIPODI East Africa), Gregory Meyer, Angella Kasekende and Edgar Mwine, all three also from the RP SIPODI East Africa, which has organised this trip, Anja Berretta, Director of the Regional Programme Energy Security and Climate Change, Lukas Kupfernagel, Director of the Country Office Ethiopia/African Union liaison programme, and Philipp Dienstbier, Director of the Regional Programme for the Gulf States.
Guided by Mohamed Duale, the Director General at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the delegation visited the cargo ships terminal at the Port of Berbera, the Berbera Airport and the Berbera Economic Zone. The delegation also had insightful meetings with the Sahil Provincial Governor, Ali Abdi Abdilaahi, and the Mayor of Berbera, Abdishakur Iddin, who shared a brief history of the city of Berbera, the challenges it faces and the potential it espouses. At the port, the KAS delegation met with the General Manager of Somaliland Ports Authority, Said Hassan Adbullahi, who shared a brief about the recent developments at the port such as the construction of the terminals, their storage capacity and the projections for the future.
In another separate meeting, the delegation met the General Manager of the port operator DP world, Horacio Hernandez Briz. Mr Briz shared with the group an overview of DP World’s operations and investments at the port of Berbera and other infrastructural projects that DP World is funding. He further highlighted that their declared mission was to make Berbera the logistics hub and for the Horn of Africa region. The group was then led to a guided tour of the revamped Berbera Airport including the 4.7 km long runway which is the second longest runway in Africa and is currently mainly being used for cargo.
The delegation concluded with the visit to the Berbera Economic Free Zone where they met and exchanged with Joseph Oguta, the Head of the zone. He gave insights into the growth of the zone from the time it was inaugurated in March 2022 to-date such as the increase in on boarding of customers from different industries and countries. The completion of the first phase of construction of the terminal at the Port of Berbera, coupled with the revamping of the Berbera Airport, the opening of the 1,246 hectares economic zone and the construction of the 157 km road from Berbera to Hargeisa the Somaliland economic corridor is on its way to becoming the economic hub of the region and one of the most important trade routes.
About this series
The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, its educational institutions, centres and foreign offices, offer several thousand events on various subjects each year. We provide up to date and exclusive reports on selected conferences, events and symposia at www.kas.de. In addition to a summary of the contents, you can also find additional material such as pictures, speeches, videos or audio clips.