Tag: Gara’ad Port

ON THE CONTINUING SAGA OF GARA’AD PORT

Opening Ceremony

MISSING A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY

In 1964 a war broke out at boundary between Somalia and then Imperial Government of Ethiopia. At the time, Somalia was conducting a national election. There was a tremendous public pressure to cancel the election in order to defend the country. Late Somali President of the Republic, Aden Abdulle Osman (Aden Adde) spoke on the Ethiopian attack, saying then the infamous sentence, ” we will fight with our fingernails”. The Prime Minister, Abdirashid Ali Sharma’arke spoke after the President to say that “Somalis will fight with one hand and vote with the other”. The Prime Minister’s statement turned out to be a wild fire for national resolve in time of war and election. He had seized the opportunity and thus made history.

A few years ago, former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and his Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre were invited to seize the historic opportunity of laying the foundation stone for the construction of one of the biggest investment projects in Africa, Gara’ad Seaport, entirely funded privately by Somali business community. Unfortunately, they both missed out.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has the imagination and vision not to miss this historic ceremonial event, which is happening under his watch and leadership. He is lucky to cut the ribbon for Gara’ad Port opening for business. Congratulations to all, who made this gigantic community achievement possible, including Puntland Government under the leadership of President Said Abdullahi Deni.

Foundation Stone for the construction of Wadaagsin Highway from Gara’ad to Galdogob at border with Ethiopia laid by Federal President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
( picture: Courtesy to Dalmar Media)

WHY THE PORT OF GARA’AD IS NEEDED – A BRIEF PERSONAL ACCOUNT

https://ismailwarsame.blog/2018/08/13/why-the-port-of-garaad-is-needed/

NEW PUNTLAND PORT

AFRICA/SOMALIA – From the port of Garacad a road that brings development and hope to the entire area

AFRICA/SOMALIA – From the port of Garacad a road that brings development and hope to the entire area

Thursday, 8 September 2022

Garowe (Agenzia Fides) – There is recent news of an important road project launched in Somali Puntland that will favor strong development of the area.
It is a regional project with strategic importance that involves the Horn of Africa, in particular Ethiopia. The new road will connect the new port located in the historical city of Garacad, 700 km from Mogadishu, with the city of Galcayo and Galdogob, on the Ethiopian border. Once completed, it will allow the goods arriving in the port (Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden) to arrive in the country in a short space of time. The aim of the project is to serve the Horn of Africa, central Somalia and the south-eastern region of Ethiopia by providing new trade routes accessible to the rest of the world, in particular to the Persian Gulf and Asia, also helping the populations of Oromia, Ogaden, far from the port services of Djibouti.
“The Administration of the port of Garacad hopes to create commercial relations and relations with the entire maritime world, a new port needs international relations”, said Prof. Sonkor Geyre, President of the IFSA Institute of Federalism and Security Analysis. “It will thus be possible to sort out goods and goods useful for the humanitarian crises of the entire area. In addition to the contacts already underway – explains Sonkor – we are inviting maritime authorities from all over the world to visit the port which will be inaugurated in October. This is the largest project in Somalia in the last 40 years”.
The port of Garacad, in the Modug region, borders Ethiopia to the west and the Somali regions to the north and south, and is a development point for the whole area. The Garacad-Galkacyo-Galdogob corridor crosses an area inhabited by about 1,000,000 Somalis, most of them farmers in an area under development.
The study of the 309 km that will connect the cities is carried out by the Puntland Highway Authority, the government body responsible for road transport and infrastructure in the state of Puntland in Somalia, and sees the participation of the KAAD Institute and foreign engineers and will allow transport goods arriving in the port of Garacad as far as Ethiopia. (GF/AP) (Agenzia Fides, 8/9/2022)

DEEP-WATER SOMALI PORT GIVES LANDLOCKED ETHIOPIA NEW TRADE ROUTE -BLOOMBERG.COM

“Somalia will open a deep-water port on its northern coast next month, with a road link forging a new trade route connecting Ethiopia’s south-eastern region with the city of Gara’ad.
The development is part of a $531 million investment plan aimed at boosting the export of livestock, fish, minerals and agricultural commodities, according to Saed Faadi, the chief executive officer of Wadagsan LLC, the developer.

The first two deep-water berths in the Puntland state’s city will be capable of docking 40,000-ton container ships and provide services such as modern loading equipment, refrigerated storage facilities and feeding grounds for animals.
“The port will also provide easy access to food imports from the outside world,” Faadi said in an interview. “This will allow food to be less expensive and enhance food security in the region, which is plagued by droughts and famine.”

The Gara’ad port will be the Horn of Africa nation’s fifth deep-water facility providing access to the Indian Ocean, but it’s the closest to Ethiopia, a landlocked country of 115 million people whose economy was one of the fastest growing in the world before the coronavirus pandemic and conflict curbed expansion.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-09/deep-water-somali-port-gives-landlocked-ethiopia-new-trade-route

PORT OF GARA’AD, MUDUGH, PUNTLAND, SOMALIA

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WHY THE PORT OF GARA’AD IS NEEDED – A BRIEF PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Attention: National and international dignitaries as well as major business community will gather in Gara’ad on the shores of the Indian Ocean for the official Opening Ceremony of Gara’ad Port next week, a major Puntland community investment. The project is one of the biggest infrastructure undertakings in Africa. The host is Puntland State President, Said Abdullahi Deni. At least one thousand guests are scheduled to attend the Ceremony.

A Personal Account

It was 1997 when a delegation of now defunct National Salvation Council (NSC), the Sodare Group, led by then Co-Chairmen Abdullahi Yusuf and Ali Mahdi Mohamed, went to Mogadishu to meet with an Italian envoy sent to mediate conflicting Mogadishu Warlords of Hussein Aideed, Ali Mahdi and Late Osman Ali Ato. I was one of that 13-member strong delegation. The intention of the Italian Envoy, Senator Serri, a deputy minister of the Italian Foreign Ministry, was to re-introduce Italy’s influence to the re-emerging Somalia from the Civil War. The idea was for Italy to be ahead of everyone else in the game of influencing Somalia as a former colonial power and power broker as the country re-instates itself from the total collapse as a failed state. The Italians believed that the obstacle to Somalia’s recovery was the warring factions of Banadir Region at the time. They had money incentives to bribe the warlords into accepting an Italian-brokered deal. Ali Mahdi wanted a piece of the cake. Abdullahi Yusuf planned to foil the Italian efforts as he thought the Italian policy was wrong-headed as he believed that Somalia couldn’t be reconstructed from the Centre, but rather from “Building-Blocks” as federated states. There was a deep mistrust between Aideed and Ato since the killing of Aideed Sr. The Italian Envoy’s mission to Mogadishu ended in spectacular fiasco to the pleasure of Abdullahi Yusuf.

Back in Nairobi enroute to Italy, and commenting on the unexpected Yusuf’s presence in Mogadishu, Senator Serri called a hasty press briefing during which he declared; “We were struck by an eagle in town”.

After two weeks in Mogadishu, we returned to Addis Ababa, the Headquarters of the NSC, to prepare for a national congress to be held in Bosaso, the North-eastern Regions of Somalia. Egypt, with the help of the traditional Ethiopian foreign policy naïveté on Somalia’s internal dynamics, had successfully undermined both the NSC and IGAD efforts to hold that National Reconciliation Congress in Bosaso. One would recall the failed Somali Peace Conference in Cairo in 1997, resulting in the demise of both the Sodare Group and “Salbalaar Government” of Hussein Farah Aideed.

While in Mogadishu, we held non-stop private and public discussions with many groups, representing all walks of life. These people had two nagging questions for us to answer:

  1. “How do we participate in the planned National Reconciliation Congress in Bosaso”?
  2. “Why don’t you construct a Gara’ad Port? Bosaso Port is too far from us”.

At the time, Mogadishu Port was un-operational and closed to business. Still residents of Central Somalia thought a Gara’ad port would be very convenient for them even if Mogadishu Port were functional. At that time they were using land transport to and from Bosaso Port.

In Addis Ababa, residents from Eastern Ethiopia are land-locked as it is in the rest of the country. They were very much interested in the construction of a nearby seaport as Gara’ad.

The commercial potential of the Gara’ad Port for Somalia and Ethiopia is huge. The economic and security importance of the port in the entire region is, without doubt, very high. I strongly believe that a Gara’ad seaport would be the most convenient outlet to the Indian Ocean for the peoples of Central Somalia and Eastern Ethiopia for quick movement of goods and services along stable and secure corridor.

By Ismail Warsame

Ismailwarsame@gmail.com

@ismailwarsame