Clans Covet 'Access to the Sea'

Clans Covet 'Access to the Sea'

Ports are central to Somalia's political economy. Control of ports and who has 'access' to the sea are essential analytical frameworks for understanding the country's geography and hierarchy of power. For millennia, trade has ebbed and flowed off Somalia's coast, with the ancient port of Sarapion located near modern-day Mogadishu. During the Italian colonial era, Porto di Mogadiscio was developed in the 1920s and 30s. During the 1990s, warlords raced to cave out 'natural ports,' not only to tax businesses but also to import weapons from Yemen, the Balkans, and Iran. Today, with the construction of new ports and increasing geostrategic competition for the Red Sea-- the world's most strategic waterway-- the convergence of clan and geopolitical rivalries has made sea access more complex yet.

An early vexed question that complicated the structural design of Somali federalism was the demand for all major clan families to have 'access to the sea.' As a country blessed with Africa's longest coastline, in theory, that was not too difficult to address. Examining the federal map, one can see that it was designed for every Federal Member State and major clan to control a coastline and a port adequate to generate state revenues. The most prominent lineages were awarded the best ports, though this also reflected where they had predominantly settled. The Darood, for example, got Kismaayo in Jubaland and Bosasso in Puntland. The Hawiye only got Mogadishu but, in so doing, laid claim to the national capital. That apparent imbalance has long-driven elements within the Hawiye elite's political calculations, as well as a sense of insecurity.

Last week, Galmudug, the federal state dominated by two major sub-clans of the Hawiye/ Habar Gidir clan family, the Sa'ad and Suleiman, got what it had long sought-- the modernisation of the historic port of Hobyo. Established initially as a coastal outpost in the 13th century by the Ajuran Sultanate, a medieval Horn-based proto-state that established vast foreign trade networks, only a meagre port in Hobyo remains. Constructing a major, functional port would satisfy the long quest by the Hawiye to attain 'port parity' with the Darood.

At the Hobyo port modernisation launch last week, nearly every prominent member of the Habar Gidir clan was there. It was a powerful, symbolic event no aspiring politician dared to miss, with regional President Abdi Kariye 'QoorQoor' and his two main rivals for the presidency, Liban 'Shuluq' and former National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) head Mahad Salad, all present. For a moment, it seemed surreal as friends and foes embraced, held hands and sang praises to Hobyo. QoorQoor said the port would spur economic growth in Galmudug and could also serve Ethiopia's needs. Salad, meanwhile, praised the committee responsible for driving Hobyo's development, while Shuluq accepted praise for his role in fundraising.

Among the other notables seated in the front row was Somalia's Foreign Minister Ahmed Fiqi, another Habar Gidir politician who has long-championed the Hobyo port project. Fiqi has sought to mobilise Hawiye leaders in Mogadishu and encourage them to either contribute or buy shares in the project. And in the Turkey-orchestrated mediating talks between Ethiopia and Somalia, access to Hobyo was offered by the Fiqi-led federal Somali delegation to Addis as an alternative to Ethiopia's Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Somaliland.

The announcement of Hobyo as the site of major investment can also be read in the broader, deteriorating relations between Darood and Hawiye elites. The reported investment of USD 70 million will help to shore up Villa Somalia's position within Galmudug as its relationship worsens with Jubaland and continues to be isolated from Puntland. It offers another patronage flow to which the Habar Gidir elite can attach themselves while looking to challenge the Darood-controlled deep sea ports of Kismaayo and DP World-managed Bosasso in the coming years. Moreover, the deepening ties between Turkey and Somalia come amid the still-escalating tensions between Addis and Mogadishu, with Ankara and Cairo taking ready advantage of the geopolitical opening.

A Turkish infrastructure, construction and engineering company, METAG, has been awarded an extraordinary 80-year lease to modernise the port. As has been the case with several major Turkish-Somali agreements, much of the terms have not been disclosed, but it has been reported that an initial USD 70 million will be invested, with construction slated to begin in December. METAG is a major player in Turkey, and its foray into Somalia signals Ankara's continued interest in competing with the UAE in port acquisition and management in the Horn.

But it will likely prove far from straightforward. There are several issues with Hobyo as a location for a major port, including the fact that the nearest tarmac road is roughly 300 kilometres away. Moreover, as the Indian Ocean tide comes in, it dumps an inordinate amount of sand in the bay, making it far harder to dock. Before any operations can begin seriously, immense dredging and the establishment of a sea wall will be required. All this, however, presumes that a port can and will be built and that Hobyo won't suffer the same fate as dozens of other major infrastructure projects in Somalia-- including the Garacad port in Mudug. Turkey's grand ambitions of challenging the string of Emirati-run ports along the Red Sea are likely to run into the corrupt realities of Somalia's political economy. In the meantime, in typical Somali fashion, Shuluq, QoorQoor, and Salad were able to lay aside their differences, at least for an afternoon.

By the Somali Wire

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