Somalia nullifies UAE port deals

Somalian authorities have rescinded all bilateral commercial and security arrangements with the United Arab Emirates, including a string of Emirati investments into domestic ports.

Those include facilities in Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo, the Somali council of ministers said in a statement Monday on its Facebook account. The former two cities overlook the Gulf of Aden, while the latter is on the Indian Ocean.

In recent years, Dubai-based DP World has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to develop or upgrade port infrastructure there. 

Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland claims Berbera. The self-proclaimed state is not internationally recognised, although Israel became the first country to grant it recognition in December. 

Reuters reported that DP World said its operations in Berbera “were continuing in line with existing agreements and concession framework”.

Last week, the UAE and African Union Commission underscored “Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability” in a joint statement. In recent years, however, the UAE has deepened its engagement with Somaliland itself.

On Monday, Somaliland’s minister of foreign affairs denied in a statement that the federal government in Mogadishu has any authority over Berbera and said that “all agreements concluded between the Republic of Somaliland and the United Arab Emirates are lawful, valid, and fully binding.”

DP World’s involvement on Somalia’s northern coast follows a bitter, years-long legal dispute with neighbouring Djibouti, which seized the Doraleh Container Terminal in 2018 despite the fact that DP World held a 50‑year concession there. DP World did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Further reading:

• Arab Monetary Fund gives Somalia $307m of debt relief
• Egypt to host pan-African Gold Bank
• UAE’s Masdar to develop its first solar plant in Angola