Research

Berbera Corridor Competitiveness: What Makes a Port Become a Hub

Published
30 June 2026
Author
MAAN Research Desk
Length
62 pages

Abstract

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.

Key findings

  1. 01Documentation and border dwell time, not road quality, account for the largest share of avoidable transit cost on the corridor.
  2. 02Insurance availability is the binding constraint for several categories of higher-value cargo.
  3. 03Harmonized transit procedures with Ethiopian authorities would deliver more throughput gain than additional physical capacity in the near term.
  4. 04Predictability, published tariffs, and dispute resolution are the corridor's strongest available differentiators.

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