Somaliland & the Red Sea
The strategic geography of Berbera, Zeila, and the Gulf of Aden coast — and how Somaliland positions itself among the powers now competing for footholds along it.
Overview
Somaliland sits on the Gulf of Aden, minutes from the artery that carries roughly a tenth of global trade. We work on turning that position into partnerships.
The Red Sea corridor has returned to the center of global politics — crowded with navies, ports, and competing infrastructure projects. Berbera's deep-water port and the corridor to Ethiopia give Somaliland real assets in that contest. Assets, however, are not a strategy.
MAAN analyzes the interests of Gulf, Western, African, and Asian actors across the Red Sea arena, and develops options for how Somaliland can be a provider of stability — on shipping security, counter-piracy, logistics, and trade — in ways that build durable, reciprocal relationships rather than one-off transactions.
Why It Matters
The world needs this corridor to work
When the Red Sea is disrupted, the cost is measured in global supply chains and insurance markets within weeks. Somaliland offers something scarce along this coastline: three decades of self-secured stability, a functioning port, and a paved corridor inland. That is not a favour to ask for — it is a service to offer.
Inside This Area
The strands of our work
Somaliland & the Horn
Relations with Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, and Eritrea — including landlocked-neighbour access, corridor competition, and regional bloc dynamics.
Port & Corridor Economics
What actually makes a port a hub: customs regimes, transit agreements, insurance, and predictability — the paperwork layer that decides whether infrastructure pays off.
Maritime Domain Cooperation
Counter-piracy, shipping security, information-sharing, and port-call frameworks as the practical basis for partnerships with interested navies and shipping states.
Key Questions
What we're trying to answer
01
How does Somaliland convert episodic international attention into standing corridor agreements?
02
What would make the Berbera corridor the most predictable route into the Ethiopian market?
03
Which maritime-security contributions would be most valued by partners — and are within Somaliland's means?
04
How should Somaliland position itself among competing Red Sea infrastructure and basing projects?
Workstreams
What we're working on
Berbera as a regional trade and security hub: policy, not just port
Maritime-domain cooperation with international partners
Positioning Somaliland within Red Sea and Horn of Africa frameworks
Publications
Published work in this area
Research62 pp
Berbera Corridor Competitiveness: What Makes a Port Become a Hub
Infrastructure alone does not create trade hubs — regulatory predictability does. This study benchmarks the Berbera corridor against comparator routes in the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean across customs processing, transit documentation, insurance availability, and border dwell times, and identifies where the corridor's competitiveness is won or lost.
30 June 2026Red Sea Strategy
Trends24 pp
Horn & Red Sea Outlook — Second Half 2026
The institute's semi-annual horizon scan of the political, security, and commercial shifts most likely to affect Somaliland's interests. This edition examines naval deployment patterns in the Gulf of Aden, competing corridor projects, shifting Gulf-state priorities, and the domestic political calendars across the Horn that will shape the coming period.
10 July 2026Red Sea Strategy
Insights
Analysis from this area
Red Sea Strategy
The Red Sea Moment: Berbera and the New Geography of Trade
Great powers are redrawing the map of Red Sea commerce and security. Somaliland holds a piece of that map — and a narrow window to make it count.
15 July 2026 · 6 min read
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MAAN partners with researchers, institutions, and governments across all five focus areas.