By: Mohamed Duale
NEW YORK, Sept. 25 (Horndiplomat) — Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi called on the international community to recognise his country during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday, presenting recognition as a step that would strengthen trade, investment and maritime security in the Horn of Africa.
Abdullahi told the New York audience that Somaliland had governed itself for 35 years, established democratic institutions and maintained stability, yet remained largely excluded from the international system. The CFR said its discussion with the president focused on Somaliland’s recognition bid and the regional security landscape.
“Somaliland is not seeking recognition as a gift or an act of charity,” he said. “It is asking for an existing reality to be acknowledged: its statehood and its right to take its full place in the international system.”
The president said Somaliland fulfilled all four criteria for statehood set out in the Montevideo Convention. He also argued that its separation from Somalia should be understood in the context of its independence in 1960 and the subsequent dissolution of their union.
“No United Nations member state objected to the dissolution of the union between Senegal and Gambia, or that between Egypt and Syria,” Abdullahi said. “Somaliland should likewise be recognised as having restored its statehood.”
He said the absence of recognition carried practical consequences. Somaliland has no seat or vote at the United Nations to speak on decisions affecting its people and region, he said, and cannot access some financial and development programmes available to other countries.
“Although the reality of Somaliland’s statehood is clearly visible, Somaliland remains largely absent from the international system in which it has a right to participate fully,” he said.
Abdullahi described that exclusion as a cost to the wider region as well as to Somaliland. It held back economic opportunities and undermined efforts to promote international peace and security, he argued.
Much of his economic case centred on Berbera. The president pointed to the development of its port, economic zone and trade corridor to Ethiopia as evidence of what Somaliland had already achieved and of its potential to connect the Horn of Africa with other markets.
“A recognised Somaliland could become a powerful engine for trade, investment and job creation in the Horn of Africa, particularly through the Berbera–Addis Ababa freight corridor,” he said.
