Since 2016, Somaliland’s leadership has been increasingly assertive in seeking international attention, leveraging its strategic location along the Red Sea and proximity to key international trade routes such as the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical shipping passage linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. In 2016, DP World, the UAE’s leading global port operator, secured a 30-year concession for the port of Berbera. While this marked a significant achievement and geopolitical spotlighting for Somaliland, some analysts cautioned the potential consequences of involvement by international investors and actors with both economic and political interests into Somaliland’s internal politics. There were concerns that such involvement could lead to power imbalances among local actors and shift accountability away from internal actors to external ones.