With funding from the USAID- Economic Recovery and Reform Activity (USAID-ERRA), TradeMark Africa (TMA) will serve as an independent Berbera Corridor Secretariat that will facilitate negotiations between Ethiopia and Somaliland with the aim of developing a transit and port utilization agreement. The agreement holds plausible potential to boost trade along the Berbera corridor. 

As part of early strategic moves, TMA organized a two-day high-level delegate meeting between Ethiopia, led by Dr. Alemu Sime, Ethiopian Minister of Transport and Logistics, and Somaliland, led by Somaliland’s Minister of Finance, H.E. Dr. Saad Ali Shire. The mission introduced the Ethiopian delegation to the potential of the Berbera Corridor as an alternative trade route. The Ministers discussed ways of fostering collaboration for the corridor’s development.

The delegation reached a consensus on a procedural process for finalizing the transformative Transit and Port Utilization Agreement. Additionally, the delegation deliberated on a new governance framework to oversee the advancement of the Berbera Corridor. This framework involves the creation of a Berbera Corridor Coordination Committee, comprising two sub-committees:  i) the Steering Committee responsible for managing the Berbera Corridor; and ii) the Berbera Technical Team Committee responsible for drafting the transit and port utilization agreement. They toured the Berbera Port, the Special Economic Zone, and the Hargeisa By-Pass.