Somaliland: Government Hands Over Plant Operations to Red Sea Cement Co.

The government of Somaliland, today, ceded ownership of old Berbera cement plant to a new company jointly set up by Dahabshiil Group, Berbera Group and the Kuwaiti Kipco.

Minister Omar Shuaib, introducing the new company – Red Sea Cement, expressed his delight that a settlement has been reached on starting operation on rich deposits in the Berbera area to revitalise the old cement plant.

The Minister said that the decision was a resounding victory for the Republic of Somaliland and the reinvigoration of its economy by exploiting available resources.

Minister Shuaib Mohamed Musa of Industries, present, welcomed the new initiative pointing out a few of the expected benefits of the rehabilitated plant.

“The plant will have a tremendous impact on the whole economy, especially on the building industry, as it will save much-needed foreign currency for the nation,” he said.

Mohamed Said Duale, the founder of Dahabshiil Group, speaking on behalf of Red Sea Cement, stated that the new joint venture will start plant rehabilitation activities very soon.

“We have undertaken to resuscitate the plant and start production as soon as possible in order to meet the high expectation of the nation on the initiative,’ Mr. Duale said.

The old cement plant, which produced high-grade Portland cement, was built in the late nineteen seventies by France and North Korea.

This latest development inches Somaliland a little higher on a lately, fastly growing economy scale closely following behind sizeable investments that the United Arab Emirates has made on Somaliland which awakened many an investor to the untapped resources of the yet-to-be-recognised vibrant nation in the Horn of Africa.

The venture is expected to create job placements both at the plant and at the market as it would boost Somaliland’s export trade with neighbouring countries.

Dahabshiil Group has a worldwide network of money transfer offices and agents as well as Dahabshiil Bank International and Somtel, a telecommunications company that provides high-powered GSM and Internet services.

The formation of Red Sea Cement ends a long-running disagreement on shares among various local and foreign interest groups vying for a place in rejuvenated operations.