- The Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared independent country in the Horn of Africa and DP World, a leading provider of integrated logistics solutions inaugurated the new container terminal at Berbera Port.
- The inauguration took place after the completion of the first phase of the port’s expansion as part of its development plan to transform into a major regional trade hub to serve the Horn of Africa.
The Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared independent country in the Horn of Africa and DP World, a leading provider of integrated logistics solutions inaugurated the new container terminal at Berbera Port. The inauguration took place after the completion of the first phase of the port’s expansion as part of its development plan to transform into a major regional trade hub to serve the Horn of Africa.
The new container terminal increases the port’s container capacity from the current 150,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) to 500,000 TEUs annually. The terminal also includes a modern container yard with eight rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs).
DP World will be investing up to US$442 million to develop and expand Berbera. Work is already underway to further expand the port in a second phase. This includes extending the new quay from 400 to 1,000 metres, and installing a further seven STS gantry cranes, increasing the total from three to 10, enabling the port to handle up to two million TEUs a year, and multiple large container vessels at the same time.
His Excellency Muse Bihi Abdi, President of Somaliland, and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World officially opened the new terminal. The inauguration ceremony was attended by an official delegation from Ethiopia, led by their Excellencies Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance and Dagmawit Moges, Minister of Transport.
A symbolic ground-breaking for the new Berbera Economic Zone was also done during the event. The first phase of the economic zone is already under construction.
Modelled on DP World’s Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, the economic zone is linked to the port and strategically located along the Berbera to Wajaale road. The economic zone is expected to serve as a centre of trade and also attract investment, create jobs, and open industries such as warehousing, logistics and so on.
DP World has also signed an agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Transport in May this year to develop the Ethiopian side of the road linking Addis Ababa to Berbera, into one of the major trade and logistics corridors of the country’s international trade routes.
