NAIROBI, KENYA: Somaliland has made another diplomatic breakthrough with the state visit of the country’s president Musa Bihi Abdi to Guinea.
President Bihi is on a state visit to the West African nation of Guinea, on invitation by President Alpha Conde.
The visit is a sign of Somaliland’s rapid acceptance across the African
continent and its growing economic and trading links with other nations.
President Musa Bihi and President Conde pledged to find ways working
together in trade and fostering cooperation.
The
Somaliland government is steadily building its case for recognition
based on trade and business opportunities with its fellow Africans,
arguing that an independent Somaliland capable of trading with African
and international partners will be a benefit to all and strengthen
peace, prosperity and security.
Bihi who came to power after a peaceful, free and fair election with a
peaceful transfer of power only 18 months ago has been on shuttle
diplomacy to build Somaliland’s case for recognition.
He has already
visited Ethiopia, Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates.
Somaliland already enjoys warm and growing ties in East Africa, most
notably with Kenya and it is keen on marketing itself as a new and
profitable frontier economy in the region with considerable untapped
resources.
The peace and stability and open market economy are linked to the reason
why 10,000 Kenyans have made the journey to Somaliland in search of
jobs and economic opportunity. The Kenyans are in the Somaliland
capital, Hargeisa working as teachers, hotel managers, restaurateurs,
architects, and advisors in agriculture, construction and much more.
Somaliland minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation
Yassin Haji Mohamoud said the mission to Guinea is to build the same
kind of close relations with West African countries as Somaliland enjoys
with East African nations
"Of course the two countries will be discussing matters of mutual interest during our stay in Guinea,” the minister said.
Guinea is richly endowed with minerals, possessing an estimated quarter
of the world's proven reserves of bauxite, more than 1.8 billion metric
tons of high-grade iron ore, significant diamond and gold deposits, and
undetermined quantities of uranium.
Somaliland is also endowed with considerable mineral wealth particularly
iron ore, uranium, platinum, rare-earth metals, gold, copper tine and
manganese.
Recent geological surveys indicate that Somaliland also has abundant
deposits of gemstones, from emerald to aquamarine, ruby and sapphire as
well as vast amounts of garnet, quartz and opal as well as lesser-known
minerals such as titanite and vesuvianite.
Somaliland also is known to be a highly promising country for oil and
gas.
Two international oil exploration companies, the British company
Genel and the UAE based RAK Gas will begin drilling their first
exploration wells early next year. No doubt, the Somaliland delegation
will want to learn from Guinea’s experience in this field as the
International Monetary Fund {IMF} has identified mining as the key
sector in Guinea’s economy.
“The Guinean economy is growing at a fast pace, driven by a buoyant
mining sector,” Giorgia Albertin, the IMF’s mission chief for Guinea,
said previously.
Somaliland finance minister Dr Saad Ali Shire who is part of the
delegation to Guinea said the tour is to learn how the country has
modelled its economy, especially in the mining sector.
But there are other untapped business opportunities that Somaliland
wants to attract African investors and companies too. Somaliland has
900km coastline with some of the richest seafood and marine resources
which is barely touched as well as fertile agricultural lands which
remain uncultivated. But the economic transformation of Somaliland is
already underway with the $450 million investment by the UAE global
logistics company DP World currently transforming Berbera port in
Somaliland into a regional transportation hub.
On the flipside, Somaliland’s economy is currently vastly dependent on
remittances from its committed diaspora community, which provide 55 per
cent of the GDP. The country too is active in livestock exportation.
President Musa Bihi aims to foster deeper and closer links with African
countries based on trade, business opportunities and investment in order
to transform the economy of Somaliland and benefit African
partners. Guinea is the third African nation the Somaliland president
has visited this year after his visit to Djibouti and Ethiopia in
February.
However, another crucial part of President Musa Bihi’s visit to Guinea
is to build a case for the country’s international recognition, which is
slowly but surely gathering momentum.
Source: Standardmedia.co.ke
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