It is in this context that DP World, based in the United Arab Emirates, entered in 2016. One of the world`s largest port operators, DP World operates 77 naval and domestic terminals on six continents, including Dubai`s Jebel Ali port, the largest in the Middle East. As part of the $442 million agreement, DP World won a 30-year concession. DP World`s investments would be developed in two phases with the overall goal of making the port of Berbera a maritime hub for East Africa and an important market for Ethiopia. DP World`s investment in Berbera consists of the construction of a 400-metre-long wharf and a 250,000 square metre extension of the port of La Berbera. The President of DP World also announced the creation of a free zone offering tax advantages and investment incentives. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, President and CEO of DP World, has portrayed Port as a future magnet for shipping to East Africa, which would spur regional economic growth. „Investments in this natural deep-water port will attract more shipping lines to East Africa and its modernization will act as a catalyst for the growth of the country and the region`s economy,“ he said at the signing of the agreement (Stevis-Fitch, 2016). According to sources who participated in the tripartite agreement of DP World Berbera Port, external companies played a central role in the due diligence process. One such company is Ernst and Young, the multinational services company, considered one of the „Big Four“ audit and accounting companies in the world. The legal due diligence aspect of the report was produced by the British law firm Simmons and Simmons. Under the Berbera Port Agreement, investments totalling $442 million will be made in the port of Berbera for the management and development of a „high-level multifunctional port“ project (Staff Report, 2016).
According to reports, the United Arab Emirates has also agreed on the construction of a modern highway between the port of Berbera and the Somali/Ethiopian border town of Wajaale. This will connect the modern highway on the Ethiopian side of the border (National Staff, 2017a). In addition, when the agreement between DP World and Somaliland became starry, Ethiopia ensured its substantial presence in the management and development of the port in the form of Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL). In 2017, the Ethiopian state announced that it will control 19% of the Berbera agreement, almost double what it expected (Indian Ocean Newsletter, 2017). The importance of Ethiopia is so important that DP World has allocated nearly one-fifth of the port`s capacity to Ethiopian exports. Berbera Port has historically served as a naval base and missile base for Somalia`s central government. After a 1972 agreement between the Siad Barre government and the USSR, the port`s facilities were dominated by the Soviets. It was then extended for U.S. military intervention, after Somali authorities strengthened their relations with the U.S. government.
DP World has launched the most advanced online logistics tools and services that cover maritime, land and air transport worldwide. That`s right. In May 2016, DP World signed a $442 million agreement with the government of Somaliland, a de facto self-declared but unrecognized state of the state that operates a regional shopping and logistics centre in the port of Berbera. The project, which will be phased in, will also include the creation of a free zone. On the Ethiopian side, the 533-kilometre road corridor between Addis Ababa and the Eastern Regional Centre of Harar has been renovated as part of Ethiopia`s 10-year road programme, funded by the World Bank and the European Commission. After the DP World Berbera Port Deal, the United Arab Emirates agreed to build a modern highway between the port of Berbera and the Somali/Ethiopian border town of Wajaale.