Voters in Somaliland head to the polls on Wednesday to choose a president at a time when the breakaway Somali region sees international recognition within reach after three decades of de facto self-rule.
The Hargeisa government is hoping to soon finalise a preliminary deal signed in January with landlocked Ethiopia that would grant Addis Ababa coastal land in exchange for diplomatic recognition. Hargeisa is also hopeful US President-elect Donald Trump will be favourable to its cause. The agreement has soured Mogadishu’s relations with Addis Ababa, which is a major contributor to a peacekeeping force in Somalia fighting against Islamist militants there, and drawn Somalia closer to Ethiopia’s historic rivals, Egypt and Eritrea.
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