In October 2022, Somalia will open a deep-water port on its northern coast, linking the southeastern region of Ethiopia and the city of Gara'ad by a road, according to official Somali reports.

Saed Faadi, CEO of developer Wadagsan LLC, said the project is part of a total investment plan of $531 million to boost exports of livestock, fish, minerals and agricultural products.

The first two deep-water berths in Puntland will be able to dock 40,000-ton container ships and provide services such as modern loading equipment, cold storage facilities and animal feedlots.

"The port will also facilitate the importation of food from international markets," Saed Faadi said in an interview. "This will help reduce food prices, strengthen food security in the region, and ease the region's suffering from drought and famine. ."

The Gara’ad port will be the fifth deep-water port facility for the Horn of Africa countries and regions to access the Indian Ocean and the closest port to Ethiopia.

Somalia exported goods and services worth $1.5 billion in 2021, a third of which was livestock, according to official figures. This is a 30% increase from 2021. The other two berths will be deeper and wider and are expected to be completed by the end of 2024, Saed Faadi said.

In recent years, Ethiopia has actively expanded its important ports for foreign trade. In addition to the port of Djibouti, Kenya’s Lamu port, Somaliland’s Berbera port, and Port Sudan are also key layout areas. Editor / Xu Shengpeng