A recent article in The Conversation Africa, by May Darwich and Jutta Bakonyi, examines the extensive transformation of Berbera port after Dubai Ports World took over its management in 2017. The upgrades are designed to ensure that Somaliland competes with the ports of Djibouti, Mogadishu and Mombasa. They note in their conclusion: “While DP World’s strategy to control ports along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden is already transforming the political geography of the Horn of Africa, the success of its strategy largely hinges upon Ethiopia, and so do the hopes and aspirations of Ethiopia’s coastal neighbours. Everybody, so it seems, is currently waiting for Ethiopia.”

The authors are studying the Horn of Africa’s ports through their project Port Infrastructures, International Politics, and Everyday Life in the Horn of Africa.