HARGESIA- A cornerstone has been laid for the construction of a 72-kilometer Berbera Corridor that connects Berbera Port with Ethiopia’s border town of Togochale in a grand ceremony in Somaliland town of Hargeisa. At the event, Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi Abdi remarked that the commencement of Berbera Corridor construction is a showcase of the furtherance of the two sides’ economic and people-to-people relationship.
The entire 234-kilometer road construction will be undertaken in three phases with an outlay of 400 million USD which Abu Dhabi Fund for Development covers. The first phase is said to cost around 90 million USD.
The corridor is instrumental in boosting the two sides’ economic relationship while contributing to the realization of infrastructuraldriven regional integration in the Horn of Africa. Somaliland has vision to create strong economic ties with Ethiopia and the road corridor is expected to foster its realization.
For his part, Deputy President of the Ethiopian Somali State, Mustafa Muhummed Omer said the corridor is key in facilitating import-export for the growing economy of Ethiopia by connecting it with alternative sea outlet. Stating the original 22-month period for the completion of the project, it was promised to exert utmost efforts to cut it to 18 months.
Herald March 1/2019
BY BILAL DERSO
