Washington came to Garowe this week. Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni received a visiting US delegation at the presidential palace on Wednesday, and the agenda ran from security cooperation to Somalia’s political transition to money: oil, fisheries and minerals.
The visitors were led by Justin Davis, the acting US ambassador to Somalia, and included officers from US Africa Command. Among them sat Colonel Shane Jones, who commands American special operations across the continent.
Counterterrorism did the heavy lifting. A statement from the Puntland presidency said Davis praised the region’s recent operations against Islamic State fighters in the Calmiskaad mountains and called Puntland “a significant partner in regional counterterrorism initiatives”. He also noted what the statement described as gains in governance and security, and confirmed continued American support for security assistance, public services and economic development.
On the economy, the two sides talked about pulling foreign capital into Puntland’s natural resources, an area the region has pushed for years. Hydrocarbon exploration sits at the centre of that pitch, with fisheries and mineral development alongside it.
The timing was not accidental. Political consultations in Mogadishu between the federal government and opposition figures had just collapsed without agreement on the transition or the electoral framework. Puntland itself stopped attending federal institutions some time ago, after a dispute over constitutional amendments, and the meeting signals Garowe’s effort to widen its own alliances while Somalia’s politics stay stuck.
Washington, for its part, keeps calling. A senior AFRICOM team travelled to Puntland earlier this year to look at counterterrorism needs, and this week’s visit fits the same pattern of steady contact between Washington and Garowe.
Sources
- Puntland President Meets U.S. Delegation in Garowe – Somali News today Live
- Somalia: Puntland president hosts US delegation after collapse of Mogadishu talks
