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Key Facts
- —Who is speaking Osman Saleh, foreign minister of Eritrea, one of the world’s most closed states.
- —What he said That the United Arab Emirates is practising what he called port imperialism across Africa.
- —Where In an interview in Asmara, published on 12 September.
- —The ports he means Berbera in Somaliland and Bosaso in Puntland, both run by Dubai’s DP World.
- —What Eritrea did Refused. It turned down a UAE proposal for a military facility in its Dahlak islands, around a decade ago.
- —Why anyone should care These ports sit on the approaches to the Red Sea, through which roughly a tenth of world trade passes.
Eritrea rarely explains itself to anyone. Its foreign minister has now set out why his government keeps turning down offers from the Gulf.
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Eritrea’s foreign minister has given a rare interview about Gulf ports. The United Arab Emirates, he says, is building a chain of them around the Horn for reasons that are not commercial.
What He Actually Said
Osman Saleh spoke to Middle East Eye in Asmara. The phrase he used was port imperialism.
The UAE has port facilities everywhere in the region, he said, and African countries have to ask why. Is it just for economics? No.
On his own country he was categorical. We didn’t want DP World in Eritrea, he said. We do not want any foreign power to have a hub in Eritrea.
He extended the question to Israel. Why is Israel running to control the Horn of Africa, he asked. Why do they need a base in Somaliland?
The Ports in Question
DP World, the Dubai state-owned operator, holds 51% of the Berbera concession in Somaliland under an agreement signed in 2016. Somaliland holds 30%.
Ethiopia took 19% in 2018 and then forfeited it for failing to meet the investment conditions. Reporting since 2022 treats that stake as lapsed.
Bosaso, in Puntland, is run by P&O Ports, a DP World subsidiary, under a 30-year concession signed in 2017.
Both agreements were signed with regional administrations rather than with the federal government in Mogadishu.
The Somali federal parliament voted the arrangements null and void in 2018. They remain legally contested.
The Offer Eritrea Turned Down
Saleh disclosed that Eritrea rejected a UAE proposal. It was for a shared Emirati and Israeli military facility on an island in the Dahlak Archipelago.
That was around 2016, roughly five years before the Abraham Accords made Israeli and Gulf cooperation public.
Eritrea did allow something else. The UAE operated a base at Assab from 2015 for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, and later wound it down.
So the refusal is a decade old and is only now being described publicly. It reads as an explanation of Eritrean policy rather than as a new dispute.
Why the Horn Attracts This Attention
The Bab al-Mandab strait, between Djibouti and Yemen, is one of the world’s critical shipping chokepoints.
Roughly a tenth of global trade passes through it, and Houthi attacks since 2023 have shown how quickly that can be interrupted.
The coastline from Djibouti round to Puntland is therefore some of the most militarily and commercially contested in the world.
Djibouti alone hosts American, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese military facilities within a few kilometres of each other.
A port concession in that geography is never purely a port concession, which is the argument Saleh is making.
What It Means for Somalia
The accusation lands in the middle of an unresolved Somali dispute about who may sign away a coastline.
Somaliland declared independence in 1991 and is recognised by no country. Puntland is an autonomous federal member state.
Both signed port deals directly with Dubai. Mogadishu says they had no authority to do so.
Eritrea, which has its own long history of conflict with Ethiopia over sea access, has an interest in keeping that question open.
The United Arab Emirates has not responded to the interview.
More: Africa news and analysis, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Eritrea accuse the UAE of?
Its foreign minister, Osman Saleh, said the UAE is practising port imperialism across Africa, in an interview published on 12 September 2026.
Which ports are involved?
Berbera in Somaliland and Bosaso in Puntland, both operated by Dubai’s DP World or its subsidiary.
Does Mogadishu accept those deals?
No. The Somali federal parliament voted them null and void in 2018 and they remain contested.
Did Eritrea reject a UAE base?
Yes. It turned down a proposed shared UAE and Israeli facility in the Dahlak islands, around 2016.
Was there ever a UAE base in Eritrea?
Yes, at Assab from 2015 for the Saudi-led Yemen campaign. It was later wound down.
Why does the Horn of Africa matter?
It controls the Bab al-Mandab strait, through which roughly a tenth of world trade passes.
Sources: Middle East Eye, Shabelle Media Network, Reuters, The National.
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