Somalia
2 Somalia Logistics Infrastructure
Home

Somalia Logistics Infrastructure 

The following section contains information on the logistics infrastructure of Somalia.

As a result of the civil war in Somalia between 1988 and 1991 there was no functioning central government in control of the entire country. The instability caused total neglect of the country’s infrastructure resulting to deterioration in the sea ports, airports, warehousing, electrical supplies, roads and bridges.
Somalia’s infrastructure including energy, roads, airports, seaports, urban services and settlement has been systematically destroyed during the years of conflict and for it to start functioning properly it needs major rehabilitation. The poor condition of the infrastructure has adversely affected livelihoods and is a serious constraint to its economic growth.
With the small resources available, including meager contributions from the diaspora and local community, Somalia has embarked in revamping its dilapidated infrastructure targeting existing ports, warehouses, roads, electrical supplies etc. Important to mention is that the rehabilitation process is taking place independently, meaning those infrastructures in Somaliland and Puntland are been planned and executed by semi-autonomous governments, while the Federal Government in Mogadishu continues to extend its reach to the South and Central parts of the Country.
Improvement in this section has greatly helped humanitarian organizations to respond in case of emergency and in normal situation humanitarian deliveries.
Considering the present congestion at Djibouti Port, it is believed that Berbera Port has a potential to expand to become an important alternative port for Ethiopia.
Despite of the improvements to Logistics Infrastructures there still remains a lot of work to be done. For example, Berbera Port has small shore cranes with the maximum capacity of 75 mt, no fixed cranes; caseload of existing tarmac road is 10 – 20 mt trucks capacity, seasonal rivers delaying truck movements during rainy seasons etc.
Investing in improving infrastructure in Somalia will be beneficial to the commercial and private sector and the entire community.
In 1999 – 2002 at the peak of the EU funded cross border operation between Somaliland and Ethiopia, the EU also had plans to improve the road between Tog Wajale to Berbera, which was to provide tarmac where it was most required to improve the condition of the road. However that plan did not materialize and road condition deteriorates.


Jump to top