Berbera Port: Why It Matters for the Region

Ports are rarely just ports. Berbera, on Somaliland’s Gulf of Aden coast, has become one of the most closely watched pieces of infrastructure in the Horn of Africa, because of where it is, who has invested in it, and what it could do for the region’s largest landlocked economy.

The investment in Berbera port

In 2016, DP World agreed to invest up to $442 million in Berbera. A new container terminal opened in June 2021, with a 400-metre quay and capacity of 500,000 TEU a year, up from 150,000. A second phase is planned to extend the quay to 1,000 metres and lift capacity to two million TEU. DP World also runs a direct shipping service linking Berbera to its Jebel Ali hub in the UAE, calling at Aden and Djibouti. For the city itself, read Berbera: Where the Desert Meets the Sea.

The road to Ethiopia

The port’s real prize is the hinterland. The Berbera Corridor runs about 937 kilometres from the port to Addis Ababa: some 241 kilometres through Somaliland, via Hargeisa to the border town of Wajaale, and the rest through Ethiopia. Ethiopia, with about 130 million people and no coastline, has relied on Djibouti’s port for about 90 per cent of its trade. Under earlier plans, Ethiopia estimated it could shift around 20 per cent of its trade to Berbera.

“Ports are rarely just ports.”

Roads, tanks and factories

A port is only as useful as the road behind it. On the Somaliland stretch of the corridor, a 22.5-kilometre bypass now takes heavy lorries around Hargeisa instead of through the city. The UK provided more than US$16.6 million for it, according to TradeMark Africa, which managed the project, and the bypass was completed in 2023. A 2023 study cited on the project page found that transit times along the Berbera Corridor had fallen by 38 per cent, partly thanks to the new road.

Industry is beginning to follow. DP World’s investment in edible-oil storage tanks at the port led to the opening of an edible-oil plant by the International Finance and Food Company. A second plant, from Essa Al Ghurair, is due to follow, The National reported in July 2025. Both are meant to supply Ethiopia and Puntland.

A contested asset

The politics have been turbulent. In 2018 Ethiopia took a 19 per cent stake in the port venture, alongside DP World with 51 per cent and Somaliland with 30 per cent. In 2022, Somaliland said Ethiopia had lost that stake for failing to meet the deal’s conditions. On 1 January 2024, Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum linked to sea access, but Ethiopia did not go on to recognise Somaliland. On 12 January 2026, Somalia’s cabinet announced it was cancelling all of its agreements with the UAE, including port, security and defence deals. Somaliland dismissed the decision, and DP World continues to operate Berbera.

Berbera port: room to grow

For all the attention, Berbera is still a small port. One analyst told The National in 2025 that it handles under 500,000 TEU a year, compared with Djibouti’s capacity of several million. According to the same report, DP World says the second phase of expansion will begin once 75 per cent of current capacity is in use.

The potential prize is large. Ethiopia pays more than US$1.5 billion a year in port and transit fees. Analysts quoted by the paper estimate that Berbera could cut that cost by up to 30 per cent. Citing data from British International Investment, a DP World executive projected that by 2035 the port will enable trade equal to about 27 per cent of Somaliland’s GDP.

Why Berbera port matters

For Somaliland, Berbera is a source of revenue, jobs and leverage, and a central argument in its case to the world. For Ethiopia, it is an alternative to dependence on a single neighbour. For investors, it is the anchor of the Berbera Economic Zone and the most tangible sign of the country’s ambitions. And for anyone watching the Horn of Africa, it is a reminder that some of the region’s most important stories are being written on a quiet stretch of coast. For the background to Somaliland’s status, see Somaliland vs Somalia.

Sources

1. DP World and Somaliland open new terminal at Berbera Port, DP World, 24 June 2021.
2. Ethiopia to join Somaliland, UAE port development venture, Al Jazeera, 1 March 2018.
3. Ethiopia loses its 19pc stake in Berbera port: Somaliland minister, The EastAfrican, 11 June 2022.
4. The AfCFTA and the Berbera Corridor, Adria Rius, ODI, October 2022.
5. Somalia cancels all agreements with UAE over alleged sovereignty violations, Al Jazeera, 12 January 2026.
6. Berbera, Wikipedia.
7. The road that will change everything, TradeMark Africa, 26 April 2022.
8. Hargeisa Bypass Road Construction, TradeMark Africa (project page).
9. Can Somaliland’s Berbera port anchor African trade security?, Thoraya Abdullahi, The National, July 2025.

Last checked 28 October 2026. Found an error or something out of date? Tell us.