By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi has confirmed that his country is hoping to reach a trade agreement with Israel soon. Israel is the first country to recognise its independence since it broke away from Somalia.
In an interview with Reuters, President Abdullahi said his country is willing to offer rights to valuable mineral deposits as part of a deal with Israel.
Late December, Israel became the first country to recognise the Republic of Somaliland, a northeastern part of Somalia as an independent state.
It has for years claimed to be a legally recognised state with its own army and legal tender. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel would seek immediate cooperation in agriculture, health, technology and the economy.
Speaking to Reuters virtually from Dubai where he was attending the World Government Summit, the Somaliland President said no bilateral economic deal with Israel had yet been reached, but Somaliland expected to sign “a partnership agreement”.
“At the moment, there is no trade, and there is no investment from Israel. But we are hoping 100% (for) their investment, their trade, and hopefully we will engage with the business people and the government of Israel soon,” he said.
“Somaliland is a very rich country in resources – minerals, oil, gas, marine, in agriculture, energy and other sectors…. We have meat, we have fish, we have minerals and they (Israel) need them. So trade can start from these main sectors,” he said. “The sky is the limit.”
He said in return Somaliland would seek access to Israeli technology.
Somaliland says its mineral resources include vast reserves of lithium, critical for batteries and electric vehicles. In 2024 the Saudi Mining Company Kilomass secured an exploration deal there for lithium and other critical minerals.
Abdullahi said he was grateful to Israel for being first to recognise Somaliland. While Somaliland also hopes for future military cooperation with Israel, he said establishing Israeli military bases had not been discussed.
