Investment
Investment Potential#
The Republic of Somaliland has undertaken major steps to attract both national and international investors in the fecund productive sector of the country. The reforms and regulatory frameworks developed aim to boost investor confidence in almost all sectors as has been set out in the Investor Guide.
The Government of Somaliland articulates why investors must have every confidence to step forward, citing six reasons : 1) dependable security and democracy practices; 2) abundance of natural resources such as deposits of oil, gas and coal, minerals and gemstones, energy, etc.; 3) conducive business environment for both national and international investors. Many foreign direct investments have already taken roots such as Coca Cola and DP World; 4) robust and state-of-the-art telecommunications sector which also offers grounds for further investments and improvement; 5) livestock, Agriculture and fisheries offer unlimited potential for investors, and 6) sound regulatory reforms which create an investment climate. Important legislation such as ‘the Foreign Investment Law, the Islamic Banking Law, the Central Banking Law, the Electrical Energy Act, and the Commercial Banking Act—has either been passed or is making its way through parliament’.
Based on the Somaliland Five-year Development Plan there are six sectors in the economy that are regarded as priority sectors, and the government is seeking to encourage foreign investment in those sectors: banking and finance, livestock, agriculture, fisheries, industry and energy, tourism, telecommunication, ICT, roads, and much more.
The most significant foreign direct investment (FDI) which the Republic of Somaliland has landed, in recent years, is the Berbera port deal with the Dubai-owned international ports manager DP World. The Republic of Somaliland entered into an agreement with the Dubai-based ports operator worth US$442 million in exchange for a 30-year concession. Early on during this period, DP World will: (a) operate the Red Sea port; (b) extend and build an additional quay; (c) build a free zone close to the port with the objective to turn Berbera into a trade hub linking inland Africa to the outer world; and (d) to build a 250-kilometer dualcarriageway connecting the Red Sea port to the trading town of Wajaale straddling the Somaliland-Ethiopia border.