President Abdirahman Irro urges Western diplomats to engage Somaliland as a sovereign partner, highlighting security, infrastructure and Israel’s recognition
NAIROBI — Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro delivered a pointed message to Western diplomats gathered in Nairobi: his government does not want to be treated as an extension of Somalia, but as a political entity that has demonstrated its capacity for self-government, security and economic development.
In an address framed less as an appeal for assistance than as an accounting of his government’s record, Abdirahman Irro highlighted the demobilization and integration of thousands of former militia members, progress in resolving regional conflicts, infrastructure construction, lower electricity costs and the modernization of public services.
His broader argument was diplomatic as much as domestic. Somaliland, he said, should be judged on what it has built rather than solely on its unresolved international status.
“Today, we seek partnership not dependency,” Abdirahman Irro told the gathering. “We seek investment not charity. And above all, we seek relations founded on mutual respect, shared interests and common responsibilities.”
The speech offered a window into how Abdirahman Irro’s administration is seeking to reposition Somaliland’s international campaign following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland on Dec. 26, 2025. Abdirahman Irro described that decision as a milestone but argued that recognition should not be viewed as the end of Somaliland’s diplomatic campaign.
“Recognition is not the conclusion of our journey,” he said. “It is the natural consequence of what Somaliland has consistently demonstrated.”
For Abdirahman Irro, those demonstrations include democratic governance, functioning institutions, security, peaceful transfers of power and what he characterized as a sustained commitment to regional stability.
From requests to results
When Abdirahman Irro first addressed many of the diplomats shortly after taking office, he said, his government had been at the beginning of its agenda. Nearly two years later, he returned with a different message.
“I have not returned to Nairobi today with a longer list of requests,” he said. “I have returned with evidence.”
The evidence he cited began with security.
President Abdirahman Irro said approximately 6,000 members of armed groups in eastern and Sool regions had voluntarily surrendered their weapons and entered a government-led demobilization and military integration program. According to the president, that process has now been completed, with the former combatants trained and incorporated into the Somaliland national army.
He also pointed to the government’s handling of a subsequent conflict in Awdal, saying sustained engagement by government officials, traditional leaders and local communities had brought the confrontation under control.
“A conflict is resolved through dialogue rather than force,” he said, presenting the experience as part of what he described as Somaliland’s broader political tradition of resolving disputes through consensus.
The government, he said, is also pursuing a Somaliland-owned political solution to tensions in Sool, particularly around Laascaanood.
But that process remains politically sensitive.
Abdirahman Irro accused Somalia’s federal government of interfering in Somaliland’s internal affairs and argued that Mogadishu should concentrate on its own political, security and humanitarian challenges.
“Rather than addressing the significant political, security and humanitarian challenges confronting its own citizens, it has too often chosen to externalize its internal difficulties by intervening in Somaliland internal affairs,” he said.
His criticism reflects one of the central disputes between Hargeisa and Mogadishu: Somaliland considers itself a sovereign state that withdrew from its 1960 union with Somalia, while Somalia maintains that Somaliland remains part of its territory.
A challenge to the international community
President Irro’s message to Western governments was not simply that Somaliland deserves recognition. It was that international engagement should reflect the political and institutional reality that Somaliland says it has created.
“Engage with Somaliland not as an extension of another political entity,” he told diplomats, “but as a responsible and capable sovereign partner ready to continue our shared objective of peace, security, prosperity and sustainable development.”
That appeal goes beyond formal diplomatic recognition.
For years, Somaliland has sought deeper economic, security and development relationships with foreign governments while operating without broad international recognition. Irro’s speech suggested that his administration wants to expand those relationships on the basis of investment and practical cooperation rather than humanitarian dependency.
The distinction was deliberate.
“We seek investment not charity,” he said.
Recognition as a diplomatic turning point
Abdirahman Irro devoted considerable attention to Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, describing the Dec. 26, 2025 decision as one of the most consequential developments during his administration.
He argued that the recognition represented an acknowledgment of political realities that Somaliland had developed over decades.
“This was not merely a diplomatic milestone,” he said. “It was the affirmation of a reality they had defended, sustained and strengthened over more than three decades.”
The recognition, however, has not resolved Somaliland’s broader diplomatic challenge. Irro acknowledged that international reactions had been mixed and that some governments had expressed reservations.
His response was to emphasize what he called Somaliland’s objective record: democratic governance, functioning institutions, security and political stability.
The argument is central to Hargeisa’s diplomatic strategy. Rather than treating recognition as an external favor, Irro presented it as the logical international consequence of Somaliland’s domestic achievements.
“Recognition is not the conclusion of our journey,” he said. “It is the natural consequence of what Somaliland has consistently demonstrated.”
Infrastructure as statecraft
President Irro also used the address to catalogue infrastructure projects that he said were being financed largely through domestic resources and partnerships with development organizations.
The Borama-Baki road and Hargeisa-Baligubadle road, he said, were nearing completion. Work was continuing on the Lawya-addo-Zeila-Borama corridor, while expansion of the Ina Guha road was progressing.
The government had also begun work on the Burao-Odweyne and Erigavo-Maydh corridors, which Abdirahman Irro described as strategically important to national cohesion, regional commerce and economic inclusion.
The emphasis on roads was more than a development update. In the president’s presentation, infrastructure formed part of the broader case for Somaliland as a functioning state capable of providing services and connecting its territory.
“When I first met you, I outlined our four strategic priorities that would guide our development agenda: livestock, agriculture, fisheries and renewable energy,” he said.
But, he added, the government concluded that those sectors could not reach their potential without investment in roads, water, energy, health, education and communications.
The expansion of the development agenda, he suggested, reflects an attempt to build the physical foundations of a more integrated economy.
Energy costs and economic competitiveness
Energy was another major component of the president’s argument.
Somaliland has long faced high electricity costs, which Abdirahman Irro described as a barrier to industrial development, private investment and household welfare.
His administration, he said, had reduced electricity prices in the principal urban centers from approximately 80 cents to 59 cents per kilowatt. In Berbera, Somaliland’s principal port, he said tariffs had fallen to as low as 20 cents per kilowatt, helped by investment in renewable energy.
The goal, he said, is to extend affordable and reliable electricity throughout the country and bring national costs closer to the Berbera model during his administration.
For a government seeking foreign investment, the issue is consequential. Lower energy costs can affect manufacturing, logistics, commercial activity and household purchasing power — all central to Somaliland’s effort to present itself as an emerging regional economic hub.
Water and health: the next test
Abdirahman Irro also acknowledged challenges that remain beyond the reach of short-term political messaging.
Water security, he said, remains one of Somaliland’s most serious long-term problems. In some areas along the southern frontier, groundwater reserves lie hundreds of meters below the surface, requiring advanced geological and technical expertise to assess and develop.
“We therefore seek partnerships with institutions and countries possessing the technical capabilities necessary to unlock this resource,” he said.
He specifically pointed to research supported by Norway on deep groundwater resources and expressed interest in continued engagement with the Norwegian government on how the findings could contribute to Somaliland’s future water planning.
Health care represents another major priority.
Thousands of Somaliland citizens, Abdirahman Irro said, travel abroad each year for specialized medical treatment, imposing financial burdens on families and the national economy.
His government’s objective is to transform Hargeisa Group Hospital into a modern national referral hospital capable of providing specialist treatment within Somaliland.
“This is not simply an investment in healthcare,” Abdirahman Irro said. “It is an investment in dignity, self-reliance and national resilience.”
A different kind of diplomatic pitch
The Nairobi speech ultimately amounted to a carefully constructed diplomatic proposition.
Somaliland, Abdirahman Irro argued, should not approach international partners as a fragile political entity seeking perpetual assistance. Instead, it should present itself as a government capable of delivering security, investing in infrastructure, attracting capital and contributing to regional stability.
That approach also carries a political message for the governments that have historically framed their engagement with Somaliland through Somalia’s territorial claim.
President Irro urged foreign governments to reconsider the assumptions underpinning that engagement.
“Engage with Somaliland not as an extension of another political entity,” he said, “but as a responsible and capable sovereign partner.”
The appeal is unlikely to resolve the fundamental disagreement between Hargeisa and Mogadishu. But it illustrates how Irro’s administration is seeking to change the terms of the debate: from whether Somaliland should be treated primarily as a dispute between competing political claims to whether its record of governance and development warrants a different form of international engagement.
The president closed by asking foreign partners to base their relationships on demonstrated performance rather than political assumptions.
“Together, let us build partnerships founded not on assumptions but on achievements, not on aspirations alone but on demonstrated commitment,” he said.
For Somaliland’s government, that is increasingly the central diplomatic argument: that recognition should follow performance, and that international engagement should reflect the institutions and capabilities Hargeisa says it has built over decades.
