Somaliland is willing to offer the U.S. a critical-minerals deals in its quest for international recognition as a sovereign state. Bloomberg's Simon Marks speaks to Joumanna Bercetche on Horizons Middle East and Africa about the lobbying effort.

Somaliland

Somaliland has renewed its campaign for official recognition from the United States, offering Washington the possibility of establishing a military base near the Red Sea and access to critical minerals such as lithium, copper, and manganese. Although the mineral deposits remain largely unresearched, Somaliland is positioning itself as a stable and democratic alternative in the region, hoping to appeal to U.S. interests in security and resource access.

Lobbyists and campaigners in the U.S. are advocating for Somaliland's case, emphasizing its relative peace and successful elections compared to neighboring Somalia. The proposal comes as the U.S. has shown interest in mineral deals in other African countries, and some U.S. politicians have expressed sympathy for Somaliland's aspirations.

Somaliland courts U.S. for sovereignty support

Somaliland is stepping up its campaign for U.S. recognition, offering Washington a military base near the Red Sea and access to critical minerals. For more, we're now joined by Bloomberg's Simon Marks in Nairobi. Well, Simon, so many countries around the world are trying to get trade deals across the line with the U.S. Somaliland is also trying to get recognition. What are they offering to the United States in order to get that in return? Yeah, well, it's been many years. It's 91. It's been many years that Somaliland has declared independence. It's been trying, self-declared independence. It's been trying to get recognition. And here, there's an attempt with the Trump administration to offer all sorts in terms of a new security pact. It's on the Red Sea. It could easily give the U.S. another base there, and that's something that they have talked about with defense officials from the U.S. that visited in late 2024, and also critical minerals or strategic minerals. They do have believed deposits of lithium, as well as other minerals like copper, manganese, these sort of things. But, you know, it's all quite unresearched in the country. So this is literally an initial push from the Somalilanders to try and get the attention of the U.S. president. Yeah, well, I mean, maybe it's a smart strategy, because ultimately, they're trying to appeal to a president who likes the art of the deal. So is this strategy likely to work? You know, it could. They've definitely got their lobbyists, their campaigners in the U.S. who are pushing this notion that Somaliland deserves independence, deserves recognition. You know, unlike Somalia, it's the country that does have sovereignty over it at the moment. It's managed to have a lot of peace in recent years. It's had successful elections. It's generally considered as a sort of functioning democracy. So, you know, going towards the U.S. with this could work. And indeed, we've seen in neighboring Rwanda and the DRC, the U.S. are very interested in making deals around minerals. So anything that could entice, I think, U.S. business to Somaliland in a sort of semi-stable country would probably go, I think, a long way in terms of getting people's ears. And, you know, there's also Republicans in various committees in the U.S. but in other countries who are sympathetic. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's not just about deals. Oftentimes with President Trump, it's also about flattery. So let's see what they do in that domain as well. Bloomberg, Simon Marks and Nairobi, thank you so much.

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