According to reliable sources, the United States is showing a renewed interest in Somaliland and has approached President Muse Bihi Abdi through a third party for a potential alternative aid corridor to Djibouti.
This week a United States Air ForceC-130J-30 Super Hercules transport plane landed in Berbera airport for an undisclosed mission. It is unclear if the Somaliland government has reached an agreement with the United States to use the Berbera airport and port and if such an agreement would constitute a change in the US’s recent stance on Somaliland. Both facilities have been recently upgraded to international standards.
Conflict in Ethiopia’s northern regions Tigray, Afar, and Amhara is creating a potential chokepoint that may hamper humanitarian aid delivery to the people of Tigray through Djibouti. Most imports to Ethiopia come via this rail system.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Cooperation and officials at Berbera Port did not return calls for comment on the Airforce flight to Berbera.
Though the need for the second corridor for Ethiopia/Tigray is urgent, I think its more in response to China expansion into Africa.
“An American-backed independent Somaliland would show other nations that there is an alternative to China’s Belt-and-Road initiative in East Africa. This step could be key as China has marked the area for great power competition by establishing its first overseas military base in neighboring Djibouti. Somaliland’s location, just south of Djibouti, on a major artery of maritime trade—the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait—is thus of geopolitical significance to the United States and its allies. Somaliland would also be an important partner in the fight against Islamist terrorists in the region.”
Could be the US is getting weary with the never ending charade in Somalia, while Somaliland gets ever more relevant and tantalising to global competitors.
Imagine if Ethiopia disintegrates, there could be mass exodus into Somaliland, which will require a global response the likes of which we have never seen.
Remember a few weeks ago planes had to divert to Djibouti airport and Sudan, when Addis airport had issues with “fog”. Imagine if Addis airport (one of Africa’s busiest) is shelled or compromised. Hargeisa Airport is only 1 hour flight from Addis!
If Ethiopia holds it together, the Berbera corridor is well placed to take advantage of whatever economic boom that follows.
SL just has to keep building its infrastructure and not just rely on its strategic position or finding oil.
The United States cannot afford to take its presence in Djibouti for granted. In January 2016, China and Djibouti reached an agreement to establish a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Support Base jut miles away from Camp Lemonnier. Beijing fast-tracked its base, which began operation just 18 months later. Good fences do not make good neighbors, however. Chinese personnel in Djibouti have fired lasers U.S. pilots in an alleged attempt to blind them. Nor should U.S. forces anymore expect an even playing field in Djibouti. Djibouti is essentially a family-run enterprise, one in which Beijing and its front companies invest, perhaps an order of magnitude more than Washington. According to Djiboutian Foreign Affairs Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, debt to China now accounts for 71 percent of Djibouti’s gross domestic product. In short, with a flick of President Xi Jinping’s wrist, he could order Djibouti to send the U.S. military packing.
Should any (US) destroyer bypass Jebel Ali or Salalah in favor of Berbera, it would ensure that the Defense Department has a Plan B for the day when it can no longer rely on Djibouti, that authorities in Berbera had both the equipment and interoperability to enable a U.S. ship to dock, and show that the United States was serious about the need to compete with China. It is rare a simple action could win a policy trifecta, but sending a destroyer or cruiser to the port of Berbera could achieve just that.
By building the Port, Airport, Road and Navy Base Somaliland becomes evermore geopolitically relevant/irresistible!
