Hargeisa- Two days ago an agreement was signed by Somaliland, Ethiopia and UAE owned a company called DP World over the shares of Berbera Port. The new deal includes Ethiopia the shareholders by giving it 19% shares.

Somaliland has 30% whereas DP World maintains the majority of 51%.

The prime minister of Somalia and his minister in charge of ports were quick to criticise the agreement. The minister in a press statement called the agreement "null and void”.

The prime minister said the agreement is against the "sovereignty of Somalia.”

Somaliland reacted angrily. Both the government and the opposition parties defended Somaliland’s "right to enter such agreements”. They called the actions of the government of Somalia as interference.

Djibouti was also involved in the row. A Twitter account attributed to the Foreign Minister of Djibouti, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, quoted the response of the government of Somalia and posted at his account.

This caused upset to many Somalilanders who took the social media to criticise Djibouti and the minister.

Somaliland Daily cannot confirm the authenticity of the Twitter account.

A few days ago Djibouti ended a contract with DP World who was running Doraleh Container Terminal. DP World called the action illegal.

DP World is the same company as the one that controls Berbera Port.

Apparently, Djibouti is not happy with a deal giving a majority shares to DP World in a neighboring port.

Additionally, the landlocked Ethiopia which now has shares in Berber is the main customer of Djibouti.