Ethiopia Agreed to Use Berbera Port

Ethiopia agreed with Somaliland to use Berbera Port. The agreement was made following the congestion at the Djibouti Port.

According to Sharmarke Jama, economy and trade adviser for the foreign ministry of Somaliland, tariffs have been revised and a committee has also been established to manage joint operations as part of the agreement.

The committee is vested with smooth implementation of the bilateral agreement and improving facilitation of transit trade across the corridor, Jama added.

Following the drought, Ethiopia doubled its cereal imports in the last 12 months. According to Bloomberg, on March 24 there were 10 ships at Djibouti waiting to unload 450,000 tons of wheat.

Back in 2010 when Ethiopia launched its First Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I), it aimed to do 30 percent of its trade by Berbera Port by the end of July 2015. However, 97 percent of the country’s trade is still carried out via Djibouti port. Workneh Gebeyehu, Ethiopia’s Transport Minister, explained the plan had not been met because of problems with the capacity and condition of Berbera’s port, the poor state of roads to Ethiopia and the lack of international recognition for Somaliland’s statehood claims.

“Now we have really negotiated the issue and decided to go very fast to use Berbera port,” the Minister added. “The only thing that is left is the operational issues.”

According to Workneh, there is a plan to use Berbera Port for importing coal but it is clear how much of ships carrying Ethiopian cargo the port can handle. Port Sudan is already being used to import fertilizer destined for northern part of Ethiopia, he added.

Jama also explained Berbera Port Authority held talks with officials from US Agency for International Development regarding aid imports. Somaliland’s government has also shortlisted Bollore SA, P&O, MSC Group’s Terminal Investment Ltd and Prime Africa for Berbera renovation project, he added.

According to the United Nations, in February UN World Food Programme imported 40,000 metric tons of wheat destined for Ethiopians.

Source: Bloomberg