The article “Private Firms Roped into the quarrel between Somalia and Somaliland” discusses how private companies have become involved in the ongoing dispute between Somalia and Somaliland. It highlights the complexities and implications of this involvement, suggesting that the interests of these firms are intertwined with the political tensions in the region. The situation could influence business operations and regional stability.
Somalia has warned that corporations recognizing Somaliland as an independent state would be met with some penalty. Tensions between Somalia and Somaliland escalated further when Ethiopia signed an MoU with Somaliland, recognizing the country as independent. Since then, Somalia has gone on to repel the deal in an attempt to make it illegitimate.
- Somalia warns corporations against recognizing Somaliland as an independent state.
- Corporations with operations in Somalia must revise information to reflect Somaliland as part of Somalia by September 1st.
- Somalia threatens penalties for organizations that continue to recognize Somaliland as a separate entity.
Somalia had issued that by the 1st of September, all companies with operations in Somalia should have revised any information they have on their platform which recognizes Somaliland as an independent territory.
They warned that this would be taken seriously.
The country advised that information put out by said organizations should permeate that Somaliland still remains a territory of Somalia, otherwise, punishments would follow.
As seen in the East African, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) in Somalia used the country’s provisional constitution to compel corporations into removing the name of Somaliland from their network information sites.
Paysii, Dahabshiil Jubba Express, and Ethiopian Airlines are some of the companies that were called out and asked to cease using the name Somaliland and instead go with Somalia.
In the case of Ethiopian Airlines which flies from the capital city of Somalia; Mogadishu to the capital city of Somaliland; Hargeisa, Somalia asked that it should stop listing the Somaliland destination as a separate country.
“Use Somalia only in your systems as from 1st of September (this year),” Commerce and Industry Minister Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi had said.
The Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) additionally called upon airlines using Somali airports to cease referring to places like Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, as separate from Somalia.
Tension sparked by Ethiopia
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ignited a diplomatic storm in January 2024 when he announced plans to obtain access to a port in Somaliland, in exchange for a stake in state-owned Ethiopia Airlines.
In reaction to Ethiopia’s agreement with the Republic of Somaliland, Somalia said that it will stop at nothing to maintain its territorial integrity.
The Somali government at the time called the deal irrelevant, stating that the MoU between Ethiopia and Somaliland is “null and void with no legal basis.
The Republic of Somaliland, formerly the British Somaliland Protectorate, became independent from the UK in 1960. It was recognized as a de jure state by 35 nations, including China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Israel, Libya, and the Soviet Union. A union with the United Nations Trust Territory of Italian Somaliland was proposed after the Somaliland Legislative Assembly passed a bill to formalize the union but that union was never ratified. After 31 years of annexation, Somaliland regained sovereignty in 1991. Despite showing resilience and a dedication to democratic principles, including holding free and fair elections for more than three decades, international re-recognition remains elusive.
