Issue 277

Ethiopia needs hard-currency and the Republic of Somaliland needs electricity, Ethiopia have electricity to export and Somalilanders have the money to pay for it, this is a match made in heaven.

1. How Would It be Done?

Connect the major cities of Somaliland to the Ethiopian electric grid line, this could be done via Togwajaale, a border city which is located half in Somaliland (northern part of city) and half in Ethiopia(southern part of city).Connecting major Somaliland cities to the Ethiopian electric gridline could be done rather rapidly, all that is needed is the will to do it.

2. Why Do It?

Connecting major Somaliland cities to the Ethiopian electric gridline would be a good co-operation project to strengthen Somaliland-Ethiopian ties and it would be useful for both countries in a number of ways. Ethiopia would make money off Somaliland electricity users who would pay for the electricity and Somaliland would benefit by having access to affordable electricity. Its a win-win situation for everyone involved. And it is also a sign to others in the region that Ethiopia wants to be a responsible leader in the region and not a bully (as many currently view Ethiopia.

For Somaliland this kind of project would save its environment, which is rapidly being destroyed due to heavy charcoal usage by Somaliland households. Furthermore the rising cost of oil makes it to hard for Somaliland businesses to use that as an energy for much longer, Somaliland needs to switch to electricity imports from Ethiopia immediately.

3. Who Would Finance It?

The EU and USA would be very happy to finance this type of project, they like Ethiopia and they like Somaliland and they would probably like to be part of this kind of deal if Ethiopia and Somaliland put forward a joint proposal to them. The World Bank and the IMF are other possible avenues to pursue, the African Development Bank is another avenue of financing. On the other hand Ethiopia could probably finance this project by itself, as it will in the long run be of financial profit to Ethiopia.

4. Dream or Reality?

If Russia can export Gas to Western Europe, if Saudi Arabia can export oil to China and the United States, then why in the world can't Ethiopia export electricity to Somaliland?

For sure this idea can be made into reality and it can be made into reality in a very short process.

The people of Ethiopia and the people of Somaliland must start lobbying their national governments and other stakeholders in both countries to make sure this win-win project becomes a reality. The media has power and must play a big role in making this project a reality.

click link below for 2 different maps of the project area:

http://www.newint.org/issue363/pics/somalilandmap.jpg

http://somalilandnet.com/sawirada/somalilandmap_main.jpg

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