Berbera Port

Berbera Port is a seaport located in the city of Berbera on the southern coast of the Red Sea in Sahil region of Somaliland. It is a multipurpose port that handles containers, general cargo, oil and livestock. Since 2017, port operations have been managed by DP World, a Dubai-based company, under a long-term concession agreement with the Somaliland government.

The port serves two major functions. One is the export gateway for livestock from Somaliland to the Arabian Peninsula, particularly Saudi Arabia, during the Hajj season. The other is a maritime transit route serving Ethiopia—a landlocked country—as Ethiopia seeks to reduce its dependence on Djibouti's ports.

Geography and infrastructure

The port entrance channel is approximately 800 meters wide and around 16.5 meters deep, with a natural reef barrier acting as a natural breakwater. The container terminal opened in 2021 has a 400-meter quay, 17-meter depth, three Ship-to-Shore cranes and three Rubber-Tyred Gantry cranes. The expansion increased container capacity from 150,000 TEU annually to 500,000 TEU (TEU = twenty-foot equivalent unit).

History

Berbera had been a market and trading port serving Red Sea commerce for centuries. Following a 1962 agreement between the Somali Republic and the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union financed the construction of a deep-water port, completed in the late 1960s, which became a naval base and weapons depot for the Somali central government. When Somalia–US relations warmed, some facilities were used for US military purposes, and a 350-meter quay was reportedly constructed in 1984.

DP World agreement

The Somaliland parliament approved the DP World partnership in 2016, based on a 30-year concession agreement. In March 2018, DP World announced that the Ethiopian government had purchased a 19% stake in the port; DP World holds 51% and Somaliland 30%. DP World stated a financial commitment of up to 442 million US dollars for port development.

Political dispute

The Federal Government of Somalia rejected the three-way agreement, arguing that only the central government has authority to enter international agreements. In March 2018, Somalia's House of Representatives voted to declare the agreement null and void and to ban DP World from Somalia; media reported 168 of 170 representatives in favour. Somaliland responded that the agreement was a continuation of earlier deals approved by its parliament.

Berbera Corridor and Economic Zone

The port is connected to the Berbera–Tog Wajaale road (the Berbera Corridor) that reaches the Ethiopia border and continues to highways in Ethiopia leading to Addis Ababa. News reports indicated road construction was financed by the Abu Dhabi Development Fund and the UK's foreign aid agency (DFID). The Berbera Economic Zone, approximately 15 km from the port and connected by road, is designed for storage, reprocessing and cargo preparation. In 2025, DP World launched a direct maritime service from Jebel Ali to Berbera running nine times monthly, with stops at Aden and Djibouti.

Operational capacity

Although the infrastructure is built for 500,000 TEU, actual throughput is lower. An assessment published by British International Investment (BII) in 2025 estimated Berbera's throughput at approximately 135,000 TEU in 2024, compared to 82,000 TEU in 2017, with its market share against Djibouti, Berbera and Mogadishu rising to approximately 14.3%. A 2022 World Bank study ranked Berbera 165th globally for container port throughput.