Bosaso: port, power, fish and livestock trade

Where Xidig members may contribute

Learning, service and collaboration openings, not confirmed contracts or tenders:

• Solar, storage and metering skills: installation, operation and training linked to the AfDB project.
• Livestock export services: health certification, feed, holding yards and shipping paperwork.
• Fish handling: ice, cold storage and hygiene for the fish market and exporters (see Cold chain for fish, milk and meat in Somalia).
• Water: network maintenance and metering as supply expands.
• Local knowledge: current tariffs, port charges and prices.

Possible services, research, supplier or collaboration roles

• Training for technicians on the new solar and battery plant, working with the implementing agency.
• An ice or cold-storage service for fish traders.
• A livestock export support service, such as feed, health checks and documents.
• Research: comparing port charges and tariffs over time, using members' reports.

Who may find this useful

• Diaspora members from Bosaso and Bari.
• Electrical and solar engineers.
• Livestock traders and veterinarians.
• Fish exporters and food-safety specialists.
• Logistics, shipping and customs professionals.

What exists in Bosaso today

Population.

• Town: estimates of the town's size are not official. A 2025 federal energy ministry document gives "approximately 700,000 residents".
• Displaced people: a November 2024 verification counted 124,893 people in 22 displacement sites in Bosaso.

Port.

• Concession: DP World's subsidiary P&O Ports signed a concession in 2017. P&O left in 2019 after its port manager was killed, and DP World returned in July 2022 (The Conversation).
• Construction agreement: in December 2022 DP World and Puntland signed a construction agreement. It covered a "150-metre quay", "repairs to the current 215-metre quay", a "new 3000 square metre container yard" and a "4000 square metre container stripping yard".
• Progress: in August 2023 Puntland's ports minister said the works were expected to finish by the end of that year. Xidig found no official statement that they did.

Differing positions on the port.

• Federal government: in January 2026 the federal government announced the cancellation of agreements with the UAE, including at Bosaso.
• Puntland: Puntland's administration said it rejected the decision.
• Service charges: in July 2026 traders complained about port charges. Puntland's president said "There has been no increase in government taxes. What has changed are the service charges collected from foreign ships bringing goods into the port" (Shabelle Media). He also said "Bosaso Port is not closed" (Dawan Africa).
• Settlement: Puntland, traders and DP World were reported to have reached an agreement later that month; the terms were not disclosed.
• Current status: Xidig has not confirmed the concession's current legal status.

Trade.

• Livestock: Bosaso is a major livestock export port. A 2020 Rift Valley Institute study gives annual averages for 2005–2015 of "100,000 cattle, 20,000 camels and 1,500,000 goats". About half came from Puntland, 30% from southern Somalia and 18% from Ethiopia.
• Imports: a December 2023 market assessment found rice and sugar arriving "through Dubai" and cement from China, routed through Oman.
• Recent data: Xidig found no recent throughput figures.

Electricity.

• Tariffs: a 2021 World Bank project document, using 2017 field data, put Bosaso's tariff at about US$0.80 per kWh (see Why electricity costs so much in Somalia).
• Supply: the African Development Bank's appraisal says installed generation in Bosaso is 24.18 MW, of which about 14.6 MW is available. Puntland Electric Power Company (PEPCO) accounts for about 18 MW of the installed total. A federal ministry document names three other suppliers.
• AfDB project: the AfDB project approved in December 2025 is called "Rehabilitation and Expansion of Bosaso Power Grid and Strengthening of Energy Sector Institutions". Funding is US$9.62M from the African Development Fund plus US$13.74M from the Transition Support Facility.
• What it will build: "7.15 MWp Solar PV", a "BESS of 3 MW/11,000 kWh", and "76 km of MV lines", built or rehabilitated, and 8,000 new connections (3,000 smart meters and 5,000 solar home systems).
• Delivery: Puntland's energy ministry will implement it.

Water. An EU- and Italian-funded project (2022–2025) set out to raise the spring-water supply from Dhuud Shabeel "from 5,000 cum/day to 7,500 cum/day", including a 21 km trunk main. The project page lists the main as under construction; Xidig has not confirmed it was completed.

Fish.

• Fish market: fresh fish is sold at the town's fish market (UNDP city strategy, 2025).
• Boats: FAO handed 12 fishing vessels to Puntland cooperatives at Bosaso in 2019, under an EU-funded project.
• Private processors: some private firms process and export fish from Bosaso, but Xidig found no independent data on their capacity.
• Revenue: in September 2026 Puntland officials met in Bosaso on raising revenue from fishing, maritime trade and port services.

Security. Since late 2024 Puntland forces have fought ISIS-Somalia in the Cal Miskaad mountains of Bari. The EU asylum agency reports that both IS-Somalia and al-Shabaab have run extortion schemes in Bosaso.

What this means.

• The government's proposals: they would sit alongside an existing port concession, a funded solar-and-grid project and a busy livestock trade, none of which the booklet mentions.
• Proposed plant size: by Xidig's arithmetic, a 100 MW HFO plant would be more than five times PEPCO's installed capacity in the town, and about four times all installed capacity there.

Geographic context

Bosaso faces the Gulf of Aden, across from Yemen. It is the only one of the proposed power-plant towns on the Gulf rather than the Indian Ocean.

Bosaso's port links north-east Somalia with the Gulf states and Yemen. Its trade reaches inland to central Somalia and eastern Ethiopia, and it has long shipping links with Yemen (The Conversation, 2022).

Dependencies and implementation constraints

• Agreement between governments: the proposals are promoted by federal institutions; Puntland administers the town and port and runs the AfDB project.
• The port concession and its current legal status.
• Security in Bari region.
• Fuel imports for any HFO plant.

Risks and unknowns

• Costs: none of the shared proposals gives a cost for Bosaso.
• The port: how the federal and Puntland positions on the port will be resolved.
• Old data: trade figures are old; recent port data is not public.
• Fish processors: the capacity and certification of private fish processors.

Questions members should verify before acting

1. What is the current legal status of the port concession?
2. When will the AfDB solar-and-grid works be tendered, and by whom?
3. What does electricity cost per kWh in Bosaso today?
4. Which fish exporters hold health certificates for export markets?
5. What permits does a new business need, and from which authority?

What is confirmed, and what isn't

Confirmed

• The three proposals, their printed costs and their pre-feasibility stage.
• The AfDB approval (December 2025) and the project's components.
• The December 2022 DP World construction agreement.
• The November 2024 displacement-site count.

Our interpretation

• Power, livestock export services and fish handling are the most practical member roles.
• A 100 MW plant looks large against current installed capacity.

Not yet verified

• Completion of the port's first-phase works.
• The concession's current status after January 2026.
• The town's population.
• Current port throughput.

Relevant next steps

• Follow the AfDB and Puntland's energy ministry for the Bosaso grid tenders.
• Bosaso members: share current tariffs, port charges and fish prices through Xidig.
• Note your skills and location in Xidig so groups working on Bari can find you.