6/7/2023 0 Comments Empire z cold storageSomaliland leader, Muse Bihi Abdi, said Farmaajo’s government was declaring war by attempting to block the deal. Mogadishu declared the deal illegal and tried to block it by taking out a complaint with the Arab League. DP World even brought in Ethiopian investment and gave Addis Ababa a stake in the port. These suspicions intensified after Dubai Ports World, DP World, bypassed the central government of Somalia and signed a deal with the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland to develop and operate Berbera port. The Somali government alleges the UAE is now actively destabilising the country, accusing it of funding opposition forces. In 2017, as President Mohamed Abdul lahi Farmaajo assumed office, reports circulated that Qatar and Turkey had funded his campaign and further claims of officials appointed to prominent positions within Farmaajo’s administration having ties to Doha and Ankara unnerved Abu Dhabi. ![]() ![]() The UAE, however, saw Mogadishu as silently in the pro-Qatar camp and Abu Dhabi was not pleased. Like other Horn of Africa countries, the Somali government adopted a neutral stance towards the Qatar dispute. Somalia found itself at the unwelcome end of the dispute. SomaliaĪlthough the 2017 Gulf Crisis now looks like it is coming to an end, the countries in the Horn of Africa have already paid the price for it. The 2015 war in Yemen and the 2017 blockade of Qatar have seen Abu Dhabi take a more aggressive role in East Africa.Ĭountries in the Horn of Africa have by and large welcomed growing ties with the Arab World, but in 2017 following the breaking of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt with Qatar, countries across the world were pushed to take sides. The military bases ensure Abu Dhabi can see off threats to its interests and secure its influence over East Africa at a time when it is expanding its income streams away from the petrodollar. The region offers excellent access to the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aden, all of which are vital to the Emirates’ economic future as a global trading hub. As of 2020, The UAE has military bases in Eritrea, Djibouti and Somaliland, which further indicates the importance of the Horn of Africa to Abu Dhabi. The Gulf nation has spent $26 billion annually on its defence budget since 2016 and this is expected to increase to $37.8 billion by 2025, according to Research and Markets.Ī growing security and war industry with military deployments abroad, US generals often refer to the Sheikhdom as ‘Little Sparta’. ![]() ( Middle East Monitor) – Since the 2011 Arab Spring the United Arab Emirates has been taking an active role in a number of hotspots from Egypt, Libya to Yemen.
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